


Code Lyoko: The Plutarch

by CoreOfLyoko



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: ACTUAL verbal abuse much much much later, Angst, Artificial Intelligence, Borderline verbal abuse, CLE considered non-canon, F/M, Fluff, Mentioned child abandonment, PTSD because of XANA, Pretty much everything but the kitchen sink, Romance, Second Generation, This is going to be a long and complicated ride, Unhealthy Relationships, but he's really just a jerk with anger issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6574072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreOfLyoko/pseuds/CoreOfLyoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after shutting down the supercomputer, XANA mysteriously reappears. To the dismay of the original Lyoko warriors, two kids from Kadic accidentally get mixed up in the renewed battle against XANA. As they begin to unravel the source of XANA's resurrection, they discover a dangerous new enemy. Friends, love, and clones ensue. Updates weekly!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which a Familiar Symbol Appears

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a roleplay many years ago between the two authors that share this account, Rai and Sky. When we started this story, we were only a little older than the younger generation of Lyoko Warriors. (15 and 16 respectively.) At the time we are publishing this, we are nearly the age of the older Lyoko Warriors. Now we are going back and re-writing all of this to share it with the world, fleshing out the characters, nailing down the story arcs, and taking out all the things frankly didn't make sense. We hope you enjoy it.  
> Oh, and if you guess the meaning of the title before it comes up in the story, you win a prize. For real.

"I'm telling you, you need at least a B on this test to pass this class."

"And I'm telling you that I don't care if I pass this class."

"You need it to graduate," the math teacher told his worst student for the umpteenth time.

"So? It's not like I need to know any of the stuff, anyway," shot back Michael, slouching back in his seat and gazing at the man before him unconcernedly. He observed as his teacher closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He almost sympathized with the man. He looked perpetually tired.

"I'm willing to offer after school tutoring, whenever it would work best for you," the teacher said at last, in a voice of clearly forced calm.

"Don't need it, don't want it, get out of my face," Michael replied recklessly.

The teacher's blue eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to lecture his student when he noticed the time. The other students would be coming in any moment. The man straightened up. "We'll continue this conversation later."

"Yeah, sure we will," Michael muttered as the math teacher walked back to his desk and opened his lesson plan. His stomach growled, protesting at missing lunch for the third day in a row to have the same argument with Mr. Belpois. He stared down at his desk as the students began to filter in, trying and failing not to feel ashamed.

"Ugh I want this day to be over with already," he heard Ivy mutter as she walked toward her spot beside him at the back of the room, her brown hair hanging over her face. He privately agreed, though he would not have admitted commiseration to save his life. She looked over at Michael as she sat down next to him. "Still having problems in class?" she asked him as she got out her supplies, glancing at the board. Michael ignored her. It was bad enough having Belpois lecture him again. He didn't need to discuss his "problems in class" with her.

Mr. Belpois finished writing down problems and turned to the class, waiting for them to settle down. "Good afternoon, class. First of all, I would like to remind you that Thursday is the cumulative review test. Remember, this will be worth 12% of your final grade in the class, so study up."

Michael, meanwhile, made a show of not listening to Mr. Belpois. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head, then got out his iPhone and turned the volume up loud enough that it was audible to half the class. He knew Belpois wouldn't take it away. The times that he had, Michael had found a different way to disrupt the class. He felt rather than heard Ivy's sigh of frustration and knew that her green eyes would be staring daggers. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, lips curling into a smirk. Well, if he could frustrate both Belpois and Miss Perfect-Student here at the same time, Michael supposed that he was more talented than he'd thought.

And then… Michael was not certain what happened. For just a split second he could have sworn he saw something out of the corner of his eye, something black and smoke-like, and then the next moment his head was ringing. "Ow!" The iPhone was shrieking into Michael's ears. He tore the headphones out, barely registering that every person in class had turned to look at him, or that Ivy had fallen out of her chair.

"What's going on back there, Michael?" Mr. Belpois asked, striding down the aisle toward them. Michael might have been proud if he had done it intentionally. Instead he tapped helplessly at his iPhone.

"I don't know!" he replied honestly as Mr. Belpois came up beside him. "It just started freaking out." The iPhone was still howling, and the screen flickered from image to image at light speed until it at last settled on a black screen with a red target-like symbol. The Eye of XANA flickered on the screen for one heartbeat, two... Then the iPhone went dead.

"The headphones probably exploded from that loud music." Ivy sounded quite annoyed as she picked herself up off the ground. Michael at last glanced up at her, his ears still ringing, and saw her eyes fixed on the iPhone. 'She saw it too,' he thought, and at once was sure it was true.

"That was weird..." was all Michael could think to say, voicing what surely must be the opinion of the whole class. He looked up at Mr. Belpois... to see him pale and shaking. Why? As he was opening his mouth to ask, however, Belpois' hand snaked out of nowhere, snatching up the iPhone. "Hey!" Michael protested.

"This has become a distraction in my classroom." Michael had never heard Mr. Belpois sound like this before. It was as if he were barely holding back panic. "I am confiscating this until further notice." He walked back to his desk and sat down heavily in his chair. "You may begin tonight's homework," he informed the class, pocketing the iPhone.

Michael glanced again over at Ivy and saw her eyebrows were raised. She, too, must have noticed how jumpy Mr. Belpois was acting. When she tried to catch his eye, however, Michael looked resolutely away, reminding himself that they were not friends. Besides, now he needed to figure out how to get his iPhone back..

 

* * *

* * *

 

"I saw what I saw," Jeremie repeated stubbornly. It was evening, and Jeremie stood in his kitchen surrounded by his old friends - and once, a very long time ago, fellow Lyoko warriors. He had not told them what he had seen today when he had invited them all over that night, and despite the growing sense of urgency in the situation he had forced himself to chat and be social with Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi as they ate the dinner that he and Aelita had cooked. It was only once this all was done that Jeremie had dropped what he had assumed would be a bombshell on the group. Instead...

"It's not that we don't believe you, Jeremie, it's just... That's impossible, isn't it?" Yumi said doubtfully."XANA's gone, after all."

"You think that I don't know that?" Jeremie snapped impatiently, his nerves getting the better of him. "I'm telling you, it was the Eye of XANA."

"Did you do a scan on both the computer and the iPhone?" Aelita asked Jeremie from her place next to him as he leaned against the counter.

"I'm sure Einstein did one," Odd chimed in. "Leave no stone unturned, right?"

"I did," Jeremie agreed. "They didn't turn up anything abnormal."

"Then there's not a problem," Yumi said decisively. "It must have just been your imagination."

"So false alarm?" Odd asked the group at large.

"No, it wasn't," Jeremie replied firmly. "Do you honestly think that I could imagine something like this? I wasn't looking to see the Eye of XANA. It was the very last thing I expected, I assure you. Nevertheless, it was there."

* * *

Michael froze. He could have sworn that he'd just heard someone move. If he was caught sneaking out this late he was going to be in a lot of trouble. He allowed the moments to tick by, listening intently. At last, he cautiously peered around the corner. No one in sight. Silent as a shadow, he slipped outside and started for the gate. Belpois' house was only a couple of blocks away, he knew. Michael fully expected that a loser like him would be asleep by now. Just go in, get his iPhone, get out. Nothing he hadn't done before.

It only took Michael a few minutes to travel the short distance between Kadic and Mr. Belpois' house. He was surprised and dismayed to find that the house was not dark and quiet. The lights were on in the kitchen, and voices could be faintly heard from outside. Michael stopped in front of the house and checked the scrap of paper to make sure that he had the correct address. He did. 'Well, great,' he thought to himself dark-haired boy gazed at the windows, thinking. He had come this far, so it would be stupid to turn back now. He had paid fifteen euros for this information. On the other hand, he could not see any easy entrances, and from the noise level he guessed that it was more than Mr. Belpois inside. He was so preoccupied with this decision that he did not notice the person sneaking up behind him.

* * *

Inside, Jeremie's tirade continued. "Alright Jeremie! I believe you!" Odd said at last, holding up his hands in surrender. Jeremie did not fail to notice the smile on Aelita's face, the one that she always wore when she was trying to bite back a laugh. This served only to heighten his agitation. Why was no one taking this seriously? He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"In any case," he said in a measured voice, "I think that we should run a full scan, which would involve at least one of us going to Lyoko. Preferably you, Aelita, if you'd be okay with it."

"I'm fine with that. It would be nice to go visit lyoko again," she replied, looking to him.

"Good." Jeremie gave Aelita a thankful smile. "However, just in case XANA is somehow back -" At this, Yumi made a skeptical noise "- we should have someone else virtualize with her. I am assuming that you won't want to go, Yumi."

"I never said that. I'm coming to the factory, certainly. I will likely stay around and watch the supercomputer with you, if that's okay, Jeremie."

"All right," Jeremie agreed. "Who wants to go with Aelita, then?"

"Ooh! Pick me! Please!" Odd shouted waving his hand in the air

* * *

'What are these guys talking about?' Michael wondered. He'd given up his search for an entrance - he'd just demand the iPhone back tomorrow anyways - and was now listening in on the conversation. 'Virtualize? Factory? Supercomputer?' It didn't make any sense. Michael frowned. It was at that moment that he heard someone right behind him wonder aloud. "XANA?"

Michael spun around, startled. For a moment he did not recognize her in the dark, but then he recognized Ivy. "What are you doing here?" he hissed to her.

* * *

"Fine." Jeremie nodded. "Aelita and Odd will go together. Let's get to the factory." He ignored Odd's little "Yes!" and his pumping a fist into the air, though in spite of the seriousness of the situation, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Now? Jeremie, it's nearly midnight!" Yumi protested.

"If it's XANA, we don't have time to waste."

"Yeah! It's not like we have anything else to do and we're already up," Odd added cheerfully.

Yumi sighed and muttered something under her breath, but otherwise gave no complaint. Without another word, Jeremie strode open to the door and opened it.

* * *

"What's it to you why I'm here! I should be asking you the same thing!" Ivy's voice was defiant, and those green eyes were trained on Michael in a flinty glare.

"Why I'm here is my own business!" Michael whispered. "I have a good reason to be here! You..." The realization struck him suddenly. "You followed me, didn't you!"

"Well, you're the one who knew where his house was." Ivy hissed at him her eyes narrowed. "You're here to get your iPhone back aren't you?" she added.

"So what if I am! What are you going to do? Report me? We're both out of school grounds!" Michael shot back. "Anyway, I can't get it back, and I'm going back to school in a moment, so if you would do me the favor of leaving me al-" He broke off as the door opened without warning, spilling light out of the kitchen onto the steps. Automatically, Michael clamped a hand over Ivy's mouth and dove into a bush, pulling her down with him. She fell back against him, muttering something angry against his hand before watching silently as a strange parade of people emerged from the house.

First was Mr. Belpois, jingling some keys, followed shortly by a woman with pink hair that Michael vaguely remembered seeing occasionally in Jeremie's classroom. A young man. a head shorter than all of his companions, burst out of the door behind them, dashing toward the car and eagerly yelling "Shotgun!", much to Mr. Belpois' obvious distain. A Japanese woman laughed at this, trotting over to the car to join the first woman in the back seat. Bringing up the rear was another man, tall, dark-haired, and classically handsome. He closed and locked the door before joining the rest of the group. All of them were young, perhaps in their mid-twenties, and something about them… Michael could not quite put his finger on it. It was as though they had a strange sense of purpose to them, despite the playful antics of shortest man. Together, Ivy and Michael observed as this strange group of people piled into Jeremie's little car, and in another minute they had pulled out to drive away.

Michael waited until they were almost out of sight before he got to his feet, releasing his death grip on Ivy's arm and covering her mouth. She rolled away from him at once. "Don't ever! do that again!" she said angrily as she got up and brushed some leaves off of her. Michael ignored her, looking first at the house, then and the car's tail lights. On the one hand, he wanted his iPhone. On the other hand, he was curious to find out what they'd been talking about. Deciding that curiosity trumped his need for his phone, he started after them. "Now where are you going?" came Ivy's demanding voice after him.

Michael rolled his eyes. This girl was so annoying! "If you must know, I'm following them," he told her, not sure why he was being so honest. "They were talking about some pretty weird stuff in there, and I don't know about you, but I for one want to know what's going on."

"In that case, I'm going with you," she informed him, catching up with the dark-haired boy. "I saw some kind of symbol in your phone when it went haywire. And it seemed like Mr. Belpois knew something about it." She explained to him.

Michael opened his mouth to tell her that she was most certainly not going with him, that he'd rather die drowning in acid than go anywhere with her, that if he had to hear one more word out of her mouth his ears would bleed, but paused. He didn't have time for this. If he stopped to argue with Ivy, then he'd lose the car. Michael groaned. "Whatever!" he snapped at Ivy, turning to jog after the car. "Just stay out of my way!"

"Fair enough," he heard her say. Michael supposed that was the best that he could expect.

* * *

* * *

While not a long journey, following the car was more difficult than Michael had initially anticipated. Aside from his nerves of being spotted, there was also the fact that they were on foot. Fortunately, the trip was slow for the car as well, as if the driver could only half-remember where it was going. At last, the car halted outside of what appeared to be a huge, crumbling factory. Several hundred feet back, Michael stopped as the tail lights went dark, reaching out to grab Ivy's arm and drag her out of sight behind one of the bridge supports. "They might check if anyone's following," he explained in an undertone in response to the angry look he received from her. Sure enough, Belpois got out of the car and looked at the street behind them, making sure that there was no one around before continuing into the factory. Michael released Ivy's arm very quickly. "Okay. Let's go." Once the last person had disappeared from sight, Michael started after them. He moved swiftly but silently across the bridge, not waiting to see if Ivy would come and privately hoping that she would not. To Michael's displeasure, she did.

The boy reached the end of the bridge and ran out onto a platform that overlooked the ground floor of the elevator just in time to see the five adults all crowding into an elevator. "You know, I seem to remember this being much more roomy," Mr. Belpois, his voice echoing in the empty factory. The door closed, and the rickety elevator made its precarious descent.

"Face it I'm not leaving," Ivy said to him as she joined him on the edge of the platform, looking down at the factory scattered with debris.

"Well, thanks for just ruining my evening," Michael snapped, though it was half-hearted. He was busy trying to figure out how he would get down there. He'd need to find another route. And, much as it pained him to admit it, two people looking was quicker than one. "Come on," Michael growled, grabbing a rope and sliding down.

He caught her smirk as she slide down after him. "So what are we looking for?"

"A way in," he said shortly, already starting to look. "They took the elevator, so that's out of the question, and I really don't want to get lost in here."

Ivy nodded, wandering a few steps away from him as he peered through the darkness, wishing that he still had his phone to use as a flash light. "Hey!" Ivy called a short time later, waving him over to the elevator shaft. "I found a ladder!"

Michael came over to the edge of the elevator shaft and examined the ladder. "Hm." To him, it looked rather dangerous, but it was the only visible way down. A thought suddenly occurred to him. He turned to Ivy, a wicked grin on his face. "Ladies first," he said with a mock bow.

To his surprise, she responded in turn. "Aw, how sweet, but I think you should go first," the girl replied with mock politeness as she stepped back. "Age before beauty." she added as she looked down the shaft.

Michael let the grin slide from his face, replaced with a dark scowl. "Listen, you're the one who insisted on coming," he snapped. "Go!"

Ivy raised an eyebrow at him, then sighed. "Alright. No use fighting an idiot when we're this close." She started down the ladder. Michael watched her descend into the dark. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, then followed.

They soon reached a door that was clearly meant for the elevator. "What does it look like down there?" Michael called to Ivy, halting his progress and looking down at her as she examined the door.

"There's a keypad of some kind," she reported. "Give me a minute." She strained, and for one, terrible moment Michael was quite certain that she was going to fall. The next minute, the door crackled and opened. "I guess the keypad's broken, but the button to open it still works." Ivy stepped inside of the open door. "Come on, Michael!" Fighting not to look down, Michael jumped in after her, nearly knocking her over. "Careful!" Her voice was full of a mixture of annoyance and concern. When she next spoke, her tone had changed to one of awe. "Whoa…"

The boy looked around. They were in a very dimly lit room containing a very large set of computer screens hooked to innumerable wires and a computer chair that appeared to have been built into the floor. A strange, mechanical structure was in the center of the room, its purpose not immediately apparent. The technology was old, he could tell that at a glance, at yet everything was so smooth and sophisticated… What would it be like if the power was on? Mr. Belpois and his friends were nowhere to be found.

"Michael, over here." Ivy was pointing to another ladder, these blessedly inside the room rather than in another elevator shaft. Most of the light in this room was emanating from the room that these steps led to. "Let's go check it out."

Mutely, Michael agreed, and started down the second ladder. The lights in this room shone from some emergency lighting on the floor, clearly installed in case the power was ever turned off. A circle of what appeared to be three hollow pillars met their eyes. "What are these?" Ivy asked in hushed tones.

Michael made a slight noise, not betraying any of his interest on his face, but really, he was quite fascinated. He moved closer to one of them, examining the wires attached to the top. They were open, as though waiting for someone. For one, wild moment, Michael considered them being some sort of high-tech transporter, but that was pure science fiction. "But what do they do"? he wondered aloud, forgetting that Ivy was there.

Ivy shrugged as she stepped in to examine the inside curiously. Michael scowled. He'd wanted to do just that, but now it would look like he was copying Ivy. Of course, he did not want to be denied closer examination just because Ivy decided to do the same thing. Michael got into another one and looked up at the top.

And suddenly the room blazed with light. In the moment it took Michael to register that this light was coming from the pillar which now contained him, the doors slid shut around him. "What the-? Michael, what did you touch!?" he heard Ivy exclaim, her voice muffled.

"Aw, sure, blame me for this!" Michael said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He threw his shoulder against the door that had suddenly snapped shut, but it would not budge.

"Well sorry!" He could barely hear her now. A strange whirring sound was beginning. The white light from the base was blinding him, and rush of air ruffled Michael's wavy hair. He yelped as he was lifted off his feet. The light grew brighter and then... He was falling.


	2. In Which a Mistake is Discovered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sky and I switch off re-writing/editing chapters. If the style seems to change slightly between chapters, this is why. This week was Sky's turn...  
> In other news. I can't believe Michael actually uses the sheeple argument. To be fair he is 14 and male.

As the light faded, Ivy expected to still be trapped inside the tube in the old abandoned factory. Instead, she found herself floating in the air over what seemed like a vast desert. Before she had a chance to get her bearings, gravity took over and Ivy came crashing down to the ground. "Where the heck are we?" She mused out loud taking a look around.

She spotted a figure a few feet away from her. Judging by his position face down in the dirt, he had clearly fallen from the sky as well. Even as she watched, the figure groaned and sat up, looking around. It was a boy with dark hair, approximately her age, but dressed very strangely. The baggy grey pants and skin-tight black shirt with a navy blue band running up over his left shoulder and torso were an unusual combination, certainly. The blue-grey orbs were another thing. He sported a blue-grey orb about the size of a cue ball on the stripe on his left side, where a romantic might place a heart. Similar orbs were on the back of the black gloves that he wore, as well as the comfortable-looking sandals. As he turned toward her enough for her to see the silver, mechanical looking object on the right side of his head, eyes the same color as those strange blueish orbs met hers. All at once, she recognized him. "Michael, is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Michael snapped getting to his feet, looking just as confused as she was.

"Well sorry. Just didn't recognize you for a second." Ivy snapped back with a glare. Seeing how odd Michael looked, Ivy had to know how she looked. She looked down at herself unsure of what to think. She was wearing a purple jumpsuit with knee high boots, one in green and the other in purple with matching gloves. There were green vines wrapped around her body. It was at this point that she noticed something in her hand. Upon inspection, she realized that it was a staff with more vines wrapped around it, with a few thorns poking out.

In the same time Ivy had been conducting her assessment, Michael was doing one of his own, looking Ivy up and down. "You look like an idiot," he said bluntly, clearly unaware of his own similarly strange outfit.

"And you don't?" she asked, arching an eyebrow and giving him the same once-over look that he had given her.

"Wha...?" Michael looked down to examine himself. Surprise and dismay registered on his reddening face. "Yeah, well... I don't look as stupid as you do. And at least I'm not an actual idiot," he managed after a moment of sputtering.

"Oh yeah? If you're so smart, why don't you pay attention in class?" Ivy said, her own color rising as her temper did as well. She had had enough of his unwarranted jabs.

"'Cause I've got better things to do," Michael snarled. "Why would I waste my life on all this stuff that doesn't matter? If being a 'good student' means that I end up like you, then I don't see any point in it."

"If annoying the crap out of everyone around is something better to do then go right along and do it!" She shouted as she took a step towards him "and just so you know, just because I try to pay attention does NOT mean I'm a good student!" she added in anger.

"I 'annoy the crap out of everyone'-" here he mimicked her voice shrilly "- to show them how idiotic they're being. They're sitting around, wasting their lives away, following what teachers tell them to do like sheep! Excuse me for trying to open the eyes of everyone else. And you, you're one of the worst. Little Miss Perfect, doing EXACTLY WHAT SHE'S TOLD. Get a life!" His anger taking over and causing Michael to just say whatever made sense in his mind.

"You think I don't have a life? HAH! that's funny," Ivy gave a sarcastic laugh "Try moving to a different continent where you know no one, and trying to fit in! I'm teased constantly trying to fit in here! I have to be late almost everyday because I have to hide from the people who make fun of me!" Ivy shouted her eyes filling with tears, her grip on her staff tightening almost as if she was going to hit him with it. It was a moment before she noticed that Michael had not come back with the stinging remark she was expecting. She looked up at him, hot tears still in her eyes. His mouth was open as though to reply, but his expression was conflicted, perhaps even guilty. Michael seemed to resolve on something to say. He never got the chance, though, because at that moment, a laser hit him in the small of the back causing him to topple forward.

Ivy blinked her anger dissipating for now seeing three strange block-like creatures coming at them "What the heck are those things?" she asked him taking an involuntary step back.

Michael had scrambled back to his feet, wincing. "How the heck should I know?" he said, ducking as another laser was shot at his head. "But I get the feeling that they're not friendly!"

"You think?" Ivy said sarcastically as she grabbed his hand and started running off in the opposite direction. She looked around her trying to find a place to hide "Great place to be stuck in, smack dab in the middle of nowhere!" she muttered highly annoyed as she dragged Michael behind her.

"We can't keep running forever!" Michael said, pulling his hand away from her and glaring over his shoulder at the monsters. "And it doesn't seem like we can lose them. There's got to be some way we can scare them off, or fight them.."

"Do you know of any way we can?" Ivy asked him coming to a stop and turning to look at him, while glancing behind Michael at the monsters scurrying at them at a quick pace.

"I don't know! Hit them with your stick or something!" Michael snapped, gesturing to her staff.

"Alright then! Maybe I will!" Ivy snapped back moving in front of Michael and bringing her staff up in some sort of battle stance that almost made her look like she was going to throw it like a javelin. Just as the block-creatures were getting into the range for Ivy to charge, she heard from behind her "Move." She turned and saw Michael pulling out what seemed like a handgun from his side. Ivy rolled her eyes muttering "Boys," and stood aside.

Before he got the chance to, a voice came, louder than either of their own and coming seemingly from nowhere. "Hello? Who is in there?"

Something about the voice seemed familiar. Ivy looked up at the orange sky, trying to place the name. "Mr. Belpois? Is that you?"

"Ivy?" Now that the voice had been identified, it was unmistakable " What in the world-" He started, but Michael cut him off, distracted from his considered attack on the block-creatures.

"Belpois? What're you-" Ivy heard a grunt of pain, and looked over to see Michael getting to his feet again, holding his shoulder where he'd clearly just been shot. "Dammit!" the boy hissed. "That stupid-!"

"Ivy? Ivy, can you hear me? What are you and Michael doing in there? Are you two okay?"

"Oh we're fine. We were just walking through town and thought we'd drop by." Ivy said sarcasm dripping from her voice as she rolled her eyes while attempting to dodge another laser from the block-creature but was hit. "Can we ask you the same thing?" Ivy asked him back. There was a pause followed by "Help will be there momentarily."

"All right, let's see what this can do," Michael said, taking aim at the nearest monster. Ivy saw a jet of white-blue energy shoot out from the gun. But either Michael's marksmanship was poor, or he was simply unprepared for the recoil. Whatever the case, the shot was wide, and the boy swore again under his breath.

Ivy could not help giving Michael a sarcastic little smirk. "Nice," she told him, then added "Thanks, Mr. Belpois."

"You do something, then," Michael snapped at Ivy before grabbing her arm and roughly pulling her aside. "Look out!" The Block like monster shot what looked like an ice beam hit the place that she'd been standing a moment before.

Ivy blinked as she looked at the creature "Thanks." Ivy said gratefully. She slowly got up and got her staff ready again as she heard a distant voice calling out to them. Ivy turned to see who it was. From what she could make out, she saw what looked like a purple cat on a hoverboard and a pink angel flying beside him? Ivy wasn't quite sure.

The purple cat fired an arrow at one of the block monsters. The arrow hit the center of one of the white circles which caused it to stagger for a few seconds before exploding in a flash. "Aim for the eye!" The pink angel shouted to them.

Michael shielded his face, then looked at the other two monsters, frowning. "What eye?" He shouted back.

"I'm thinking this." Ivy said bringing her staff up in a lance stance and rushing forward and stabbing the second creature right in the center of it's eye.

"What kinda eye is that?" she heard him mutter. She did not look over, already readying herself for an attack on the remaining creature. Just as she was raising her arm, a bolt of blue energy came from her left, and the monster exploded. She looked over at Michael in surprise and saw that the mechanical device had changed into some sort of blue targeting device. "Good job, cyborg," she said with a smirk

Michael narrowed his eyes as the tracking device receded. "One of these days..." he growled.

She smiled. "Sorry," she said lightly as she looked at him and leaned against her staff.

Michael blinked. He tilted his head a little to the side and studied her, almost as if had been expecting to receive as much hostility as he gave. But not for long. The next moment, he let out a yelp as his body started to dissolve. A few seconds later, Ivy's body also started to dissolved. "Materialization," they both heard, and for a moment everything went dark. They emerged from the scanner a minute later.

When Ivy walked out of the tube, she immediately noticed a tall Japanese woman glaring down at both of them. She glanced at Michael nervously and noticed him shiver. Ivy blinked and bit her lip. This did not look good at all, she thought to herself.

Behind them, the scanner doors shut, then opened again to reveal two more people, a woman in pink hair and man with spiky blond hair and a purple spot in the center. Michael frowned. "How is that possible?" he asked the room and large. No one answered him. Instead, The woman in front of the elevator nodded to it. "Get in," she told them.

Now, from what Ivy knew of Michael, he generally did not like being told what to do and would fight and argue, but to Ivy's surprise and amazement, Michael slowly walked into the elevator. If Michael went without a snappy comeback, this must be serious. She slowly followed him into the old freight elevator with the other two adults behind her.

The Japanese woman pressed the elevator button on the side of the room and the elevator doors shut. A few moments of awkward silence later, the doors re-opened to reveal the floor above. Mr. Belpois sat in a chair next to a hanging computer. He crossed his arms looking sternly at his two students and said calmly but a distinct edge to his voice "You two have some explaining to do."


	3. In Which a Vote is Taken

Michael was about ready to climb the walls. He paced the room, searching once again for some way, any way out. Once again, he could find nothing, nothing but an opening above the massive computer structure that was far beyond their reach and the elevator, which he had already tried half a dozen times.

"Stop it," Ivy said quietly. She had not moved or spoken in the past ten minutes but sat with her back to the wall, seeming to make herself as small as possible. Michael gave a grunt of frustration and went over to try the elevator again. Nothing happened. As Mr. Belpois had informed them when he had ushered them in here, they had disabled the elevator from the floor above. Ivy and Michael were trapped.

Michael spun around, advancing on Ivy instead to vent his frustration. "This is all your fault you know," he snarled.

" _My_ fault?" Ivy repeated back to him incredulously. "You're the one who wanted to follow them in the first place!"

"Yeah well you're the one who sold us out!" he retorted. "If you'd kept your mouth shut we might have had something to bargain with!"

_"You have a lot of explaining to do," Mr. Belpois told them gravely. Michael had never considered Mr. Belpois a very intimidating man, but in that moment he admitted to himself that perhaps he had misjudged him. Something about his expression - the one of mixed anger, determination, and perhaps even a little fear - made Michael's insides turn to jelly. He was surprised that his voice did not shake when he replied._

_"You have to explain everything first," he demanded. "What just happened to us? What is this place, why are you here, and -"_

_"Michael," barked Jeremie, cutting him off. Michael's voice deserted him. The man that Michael had dismissed only just this afternoon was gone, and the man before him was transformed, burdened with some terrible purpose. "I need you to tell me why you were here. What you have seen. If you have been here before tonight. I need you to to tell me. Now."_

_Michael gulped and opened his mouth, searching for something to say, but it was Ivy's voice that answered. "In class," she began, "when Michael's iPhone went haywire… I saw something. A symbol or something. It made me curious, so I followed you - well, I followed Michael - to your house and we saw you leaving… and then you came here."_

_The boy made a slight noise, glaring daggers at Ivy. He could not believe that she had just told Jeremie everything. "That's the story, right, Michael?" Mr. Belpois asked him. Michael's jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth and looked away. Mr. Belpois sighed and returned his attention to Ivy. "How did you get in?"_

_"The elevator," Ivy explained. "We climbed down the shaft. The keypad is - "_

_"Broken, I know." Jeremie waved an impatient hand. "And how did you get to Lyoko?"_

_"Lyoko?" Ivy sounded confused. Michael did not look at her._

_"The place where you were," Mr. Belpois explained patiently. "The desert."_

_"I don't know. I don't know. We were in these tubes and suddenly they closed and then we were just…" She gave an ineffectual gesture._

_"I thought it was supposed to be a dry run, Jeremie," the woman with the dark hair interjected. Michael avoided looking at her, too. He had the feeling she could take him apart if she so chose, and had no desire to cross her._

_"Well, obviously, it wasn't," Mr. Belpois - Jeremie - said, pushing up his glasses to rub a hand over his face. "This is all such a mess."_

_A brief silence fell, in which Ivy added in a small voice, "And then those things came and started shooting at us."_

_"Bloks," the man with the spiked blonde hair said now. "They're called… ah…" He was silenced by the stares of the other four members of his strange little group._

_Another pause. "That's it, is it?" Mr. Belpois prompted. "That's all you can tell us?"_

_Michael stole a glance over at Ivy long enough to watch her give a little nod._

_"Okay." Mr. Belpois noded back, a troubled expression on his face. "Okay. I guess now all that's left is to decide what we are going to do with you."_

"Michael, I'm sorry I told them everything, okay?" Ivy said, crossing her arms. "I was just stressed out and there were five of them. I didn't know what to do, so I just did what I thought was best."

Though he could not bring himself to forgive her completely, the boy recognized the logic in her argument. He also could not deny their circumstances, and that fighting would do them no good right now. His anger ebbed, and with it his energy. He leaned against the wall next to the elevator and slowly slid down to sit, just as Ivy was, and stare at his hands. "You don't think they'll hurt us, do you?" he asked quietly, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"No," Ivy assured him at once. "Someone would miss us."

* * *

Upstairs, the group of five adults were arguing intently on how to proceed with the two students downstairs.

"I don't get why we need to have this discussion. It's not like we can make them forget or anything. They're in the supercomputer already." Odd put forth with a shrug.

"We can change what we tell them," replied Ulrich. "There is no great way out of this, but we could make up a story. Tell them it's a government project or something. Top secret."

"And to be fair, it was a government project," Odd agreed, nodding. "Okay, fine, I can see us being able to cook up something if we have to. Why is that a better option, though?"

"Because we can't let anyone else get involved," Yumi interjected. "We can handle this on our own. We beat XANA before and we can do it again."

"Yeah, but we missed something," Jeremie said darkly from his usual seat in the computer chair. "I missed something. And you, you didn't believe me." He could not keep the note of accusation from creeping into his voice.

"Jeremie, can you blame us?" sighed Ulrich. "You've been going on about this for years, how he's going to come back. We just thought, well…" He cast Jeremie an uncomfortable look, which Jeremie returned with stony indifference.

"We didn't want it to be true, either," Aelita added quietly. "We wanted it to be over. We've all moved on with our lives, Jeremie… To have to do that all over again… I still have nightmares."

"You think I don't?" Jeremie replied angrily. "I have them all the time. You know that, Aelita. Which is why we need everyone to fight, so we can make sure that we don't lose this time, and so we can get rid of XANA for good this time. I don't like this any more than you guys do, but we have to face the facts. They are a part of this now, and we have to accept that."

"Doesn't inducting new Lyoko warriors have to be a unanimous vote?" Yumi asked. "I vote against. We should stop discussing this and start trying to figure out what to tell them."

"The situation changed when they were scanned into the supercomputer," countered Jeremie coldly. "It's majority rules."

Yumi's eyes flashed dangerously. "Funny, I don't remember electing you the leader."

"Hey, let's just all take a second to calm down here," Odd said, holding up his hands. "We're all friends here, right?" He smiled ingratiatingly at first Yumi, then at Jeremie. "Riiiiight?" he repeated when he received no reaction.

Yumi let out a big sigh and gazed at Jeremie with something akin to helplessness. "They're just kids, Jeremie."

"So were we," he replied firmly.

"And you don't see a problem with that?" Jeremie blinked, turning to Aelita. Her hands were clenched and she was shaking very slightly. "You don't think that being involved in this as children has affected our lives negatively? We're all still here, Jeremie. We thought this was over for ten years, but we're all still here because we can't get away from it."

"Except William," Odd added quietly.

"Maybe William had the right idea," said Aelita.

Jeremie gaped at her as if she had uttered some foul blasphemy. "Aelita, this is our responsibility. We can't just leave. XANA will kill everyone. Besides, what about your father?"

"I know that, Jeremie. I know," Aelita replied a little sadly. "I will carry that with me until the day I die. But don't you see, that is why it can't be their war, too. We can't do this to them."

Ulrich had been quiet for quite some time, watching with a brooding expression. Now he spoke up. "We already have," he pointed out grimly. "Not on purpose, of course… But Odd was right from the beginning. They're already in the supercomputer. We can't make them forget, and XANA is going to attack any time now. There's no guarantee we could figure out how to make them forget, or how to kill XANA, anytime soon. XANA could find out who they are, and he will target the school again because you are working there, Jeremie. All we're really voting on here is if we give them a chance to fight it, or to watch their world crumble again and again without understanding why."

There was a long, heavy silence. At last, Jeremie broke it. "Time to put it to a vote."

* * *

The elevator rumbled to life. Michael scrambled to his feet, heart in his throat, and backed away from it to stand closer to Ivy. For as much as he had been hoping to get out of here, now that it was actually happening he was petrified. The two women were the ones who came to get them this time. The dark-haired one was looking sour and sullen. The one with the pink hair, on the other hand, smiled at them a little, perhaps noting Michael's fearful expression.

The pair of students were ushered into the elevator where they rode once again up to the lab. The atmosphere was noticeably different this time. There was still tension, this much was clear. The Japanese woman was ignoring the man with the dark brown hair pointedly, and Belpois looked more tired than ever. However, the feeling of barely contained panic was gone, and in its place was grim resolution.

"Sit down," offered the man with the strange hair, offering them a much more broad smile and patting the floor near him as an invitation.

Michael and Ivy exchanged a brief look, then sat down obediently, looking expectantly at Mr. Belpois. Instead, it was the dark-haired young man who spoke. "We are going to tell you everything that we know.

* * *

It was nearly four AM. Michael and Ivy rode in silence. Jeremie had insisted that he take his students back to the school. Though he would never have admitted it, Michael was glad of it. The events of tonight coupled with the lateness of the hour had utterly drained him. Ivy, it seemed, had fallen asleep. Michael would have liked to follow suit, but his mind was buzzing with everything he had just heard.

A killer virus, a virtual world… It all just seemed too strange to be real, but too detailed to be fabricated. They had told them stories, and while before he might have dismissed them as an elaborate prank of a group of insane individuals, he could not deny what he had seen and experienced. Now they were expected to help, to fight against this XANA, a being that the members of the group ('Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita,' he mentally rehearsed) had gone to great lengths to illustrate was very dangerous. They had promised to train both himself and Ivy, but Michael remained doubtful that either of them could do anything to help fight this thing.

The car stopped. "Alright, you two," Jeremie said, turning to the two in the back seat. "Get inside. Make sure that no one sees you. And remember, don't tell any-"

"Tell anyone. I know, I know," Michael interrupted. "You only said it about a hundred times." He opened the door, got out, and slammed it shut without another word, very grateful to be free again. He hastened away from the vehicle, then paused, wanting to make sure that Ivy got out safely as well. She appeared a moment later, looking slightly surprised to see him still there as Jeremie's car pulled away. They looked at each other for a second or two, neither of them knowing what to say in light of tonight's events. Finally, Michael grunted vaguely and turned his back on her to half-walk, half-jog toward the dormitories and his waiting bed.

* * *

"Hey. Get up." Michael groaned as he was prodded in the ribs.

Michael cracked one eye open. "Whacha want?" he asked groggily.

"You need to get up," said the boy with blonde hair simply.

"Don wanna. Ditching today. Mental 'ealth. G'way," Michael mumbled, burying his head in his pillow.

"Uh-uh. If I let you go back to sleep every time I heard that, you'd never go to school." Lucas yanked the covers off Michael's bed.

"Go away," Michael repeated, though now it was no use anyway. He was really awake now. With a sigh, Michael sat up and glared at his roommate. "You're a real pain, you know that?"

"I know," Lucas said cheerfully. "But I need to be to get you to do anything."

To say that they were friends would not be exactly true. More like Lucas was one of the only people in the school that could deal with Michael. Despite his very best attempts to alienate his roommate, Lucas remained, for the most part, stubbornly cheerful and friendly. Michael had long since given up trying. (And, if he were being honest with himself, he had also conceded that sometimes Lucas wasn't terrible to have around.)

"Anyway, we've got to get going, no matter how tired you are," Lucas added. "It's not my fault that you got in at four last night."

Michael, who'd been stooping to pick up one of his personal belonging up off the floor, froze.

"You're very noisy," Lucas mildly, correctly reading Michael's panicked expression. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, as long as you get going so that _I'm_ not late because you were slow."

"R-Right." Michael moved more quickly that morning than he had any other day at the Kadic.

Michael and Lucas came into the cafeteria together. Michael had already grabbed a tray and was about to get in line when he realized that Ivy was the last one to join the queue and froze. Michael was not sure that he was ready to deal with her yet. He almost considered not eating altogether, but he'd skipped dinner last night to bribe Rupert for Belpois' address. His hunger gnawed at his insides. Instead, Michael turned to his roommate. "Hey, Lucas. D'you want to go in front of me?" Michael gave him a winning smile.

Lucas saw through this in an instant. "No. Just get in line." He gave Michael a slight push.

Michael scowled and got in line, deliberately not making eye contact with Ivy and hoping that she would not talk to him. Fortunately, Ivy either did not notice him or was equally inclined to ignore him. For this, Michael was thankful.

His luck did not last. As they seated themselves at their usual table, Michael started eating. Lucas did not. He was looking at Michael oddly. "What?" Michael demanded after a few minutes of this. Being stared at made him uncomfortable.

"Nothing," Lucas said quickly. "It's just... it's strange."

"What's strange?" asked Michael impatiently. He hated when Lucas started talking like this.

"Well, I know _you_ always ignore Ivy, but usually, she at least tries to be nice to you. Today, she was ignoring you as well. Why is that, I wonder?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

Michael's face colored. Another thing that bothered him about Lucas – too perceptive for his own good. "Nothing happened," Michael snapped. "Stop reading too much into things. Shut up and eat so we can go to class."

Lucas smirked. "You want to go to class? Are you sure you're not running a fever there?" Michael gave a little annoyed grunt that became a noise of surprise and dismay as Lucas waved Ivy over to them.

She wore a perplexed and slightly suspicious expression as she made her way over to them, carrying her tray. "What?"

Lucas tilted his white-blond head a little to the side. "Nothing," he said. "I just thought you might like to sit with us. You look awful lonely way over there." He gestured to the table she'd been sitting at alone.

"Oh. Thank you." Any hope that Michael had carried that Ivy would decline was dashed. Still looking quite surprised, she settled herself next to Lucas and caught Michael's eye briefly. He looked away to glare at Lucas instead. Ivy did not understand, he knew, how nosy and interfering Lucas could be. She was about to find out.

"So," Lucas said cheerfully, taking a bite of his parfait. "What's new with you, Ivy? Done anything new and exciting recently?"

Her green eyes flicked to Michael. That was all it took for Michael to understand that she thought that he had told Lucas everything. Michael was already frustrated with Lucas' prying, but now his temper was starting to bubble again. How could she think that, when she was the one who had told everything last night? Unlike her, _Michael_ was quite capable of keeping a secret. "Nothing new," Ivy answered Lucas, putting on a sweet smile for him.

"Aw. Well, that's no fun." Lucas' thin lips pulled into a frown. "Forgive me for saying so, but you're looking a little worn out," he noted. "Were you-"

Michael kicked him hard under the table. "-up late last night studying?" Lucas finished anyway, grimacing in pain.

"Yes, I was," Ivy agreed, nodding.

"What subject?" Lucas asked innocently.

Michael gripped his fork so tightly that it hurt his hand. He desperately wanted to tell Lucas directly to stop this questioning, but he could not think how to do so without arousing further suspicion. 'I'm going to kill him,' he thought, placing the emphasis on different words in an effort to distract himself. 'I'M going to kill him, I'm going to KILL him, I'm GOING to kill him, I'm…'

"What are you trying to get at Lucas?" asked Ivy now.

Lucas' eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing," he said smoothly. "I just wanted to make sure we didn't have a test today. We don't, do we?"

"We might," Ivy said with a hint of a smile, then turned her head to check the time on the clock on the wall.

Lucas seemed displeased. His prying was not yielding the results he had hoped for, obviously. It was all that Michael could do not to smirk. Abruptly, Lucas stood. "I'll be right back," he said.

"Where're you going?" Michael demanded. While he wanted Lucas to stop, he also had no desire to be left alone with Ivy right now.

"Bathroom," Lucas replied with a shrug. "Back in a few." He was gone before Michael could say anything more.

As soon as Lucas was safely away, Ivy rounded on him. "What's with him? Does he know?" she asked him, not quite concealing a note of accusation in her voice.

Michael bristled. "No, I didn't tell him anything. He saw me coming in last night and guessed bits and pieces from there. Thanks for assuming that I'd sell you and Belpois out, though," he sniped.

"I wasn't accusing you," Ivy snapped back, glaring at him.

"Oh yeah? Sure sounded like it." Already, they were fighting again. Why did they have to keep fighting? Michael wondered this, but could not seem to change it. Every word out of her mouth just seemed to make his blood boil.

"Well I didn't mean for it to sound like that!" Ivy said her voice rising slightly.

"Oh yeah? Well then, maybe you should be a little more careful with what you say." Michael's tone made it clear that he was still blaming Ivy for talking the night before. "Maybe if you just stopped talking altogether. Do everyone a favor." 'Why do I keep saying stuff like this?' Michael wondered. 'I've already reduced her to tears once... Why am I trying to do it again?' Already, he regretted saying this, but the words were out and there was no taking them back. Ivy's face was reddening. Michael was just starting to wonder if there was a way that he could backtrack when she stood up, took her tray, and slammed the food in Michael's face before storming from the cafeteria.

A great hush fell over the cafeteria as everyone turned to look at Michael. Slowly, calmly, Michael got to his feet. The parts of his face that were visible were burning a bright scarlet.

He nearly collided with Lucas as he walked out, evidently back from his trip to the "bathroom". "What... Whoa. What happened?"

The concern in Lucas' voice was genuine, but Michael was in no mood to hear it. "Shut up," he growled.

"Michael, what did you say? Are you alright?" Lucas grabbed his roommate's arm.

Michael ripped his arm out of Lucas' grasp. "None of your business. This whole thing is your goddamn fault, anyway." He stalked off to the bathroom to wash the food off his face and hair.


	4. In Which Training Commences

Ivy took refuge in her usual place while the dorms were off limits during the day - the classroom. Crying in the bathroom invited gossip, and the library had too many potential witnesses. Classrooms were safe enough, if you knew how to handle yourself, because no one showed up as early as she did, not even the teachers. It was only once she was seated in her usual place with her light brown hair hiding her face that she allowed a tiny, ragged sob to escape her lips. The same thought kept running through her head again and again. 'He hates me.'

For the life of her, Ivy could not understand it. Michael was never known to be particularly pleasant to anyone, this much was true, but he seemed to nurse a special hatred only for her. Up until now, Ivy had always tried to be at the very least polite to him, but everything that she said or did was rejected and mocked. And now, it seemed, his roommate had decided to harass her as well. It was bad enough not to have any friends here, but dealing with Michael on top of everything, it was all becoming a little bit too much.

By the time the literature teacher had entered the classroom, Ivy was in control again. She stared at her notebook in front of her and did not say a word as the teacher began to set up, nor did she acknowledge the curious stares of the students who had witnessed the events of breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the navy blue form of Michael's sweatshirt as he entered the room. He passed by her desk without acknowledgement.

So the day passed. Ivy did an admirable job of looking anywhere but at Michael for the duration of the morning, including Mr. Belpois' class when they were seated beside each other. Michael either did not notice Ivy's red eyes and her skin blotchy from tears, or simply pretended not to. Silence stretched between them, tense and poisonous.

The only event worthy of note happened after Mr. Belpois' class. A frazzled-looking Mr. Belpois stopped Ivy after class. He attempted to flag down Michael as well, but the boy ignored him and stomped out of the door. Mr. Belpois sighed heavily. "Ivy. We're starting your training tonight. Given the events of last night and what may be to come, we feel it's important to begin right away."

Ivy nodded wordlessly, her stomach tightening with mixed excitement and a thrill of anxiety.

"There's a tunnel in the park, through the sewers. I went and checked this morning and it is still accessible. I know it's not the most glamorous means of transport but it never let us down when we were kids. You and Michael will go there after dinner to meet Yumi and Aelita at the factory."

Her heart sank. She had hoped that when Mr. Belpois had said "you" that he had meant that she and Michael would be training separately. All she said was, "Smart move, bringing the one that caused Michael to go all quiet."

Jeremie could not help but laugh. "Yes, well," he agreed with a smile, "I'll have to ask Yumi how she does it. It certainly is a useful trick."

Ivy returned the smile, but added firmly, "I am not going to get Michael, though. You can do that." She cast Mr. Belpois an apologetic look, then turned her back on him before he had a chance to argue.

"Be careful!" was all Mr. Belpois called after her. "Jim may be getting old but he's still as watchful as ever!"

* * *

* * *

By 20:30, Ivy had returned to the mysterious factory that she had been trapped inside of for most of the previous night. Michael had been very late to meet her at the entrance of the sewers, but Ivy had waited for reasons she did not entirely understand. When Michael had finally shown up, he was using his iPhone as a flashlight. Clearly, Jeremie had either not given Michael the same warning about being cautious, or Michael had just forgotten. Ivy considered reprimanding him, but decided that her anger with him trumped the desire to tell him off for something that might have come to pass, so instead had just climbed down the ladder without a word.

Now the two of them were in the elevator, standing far apart from each other as the descended into the lab. All of Ivy's excitement from this morning had evaporated, and she was dreading the next several hours that they would spend together. 'This should be an interesting training session,' Ivy thought unhappily.

The doors to the elevator opened to reveal the lab. Instantly, Ivy's attention was drawn to the mechanical implement in the center of the room. While the night before it had no immediately apparent purpose, tonight it was alive and projecting a hologram of what appeared almost like suspended jigsaw pieces in four different lines, all surrounding an orb at the center. She walked toward the hologram, staring at it with fascination.

"That's Lyoko," a soft voice said. Ivy jumped slightly. She had forgotten that Yumi and Aelita were here. Aelita, who had spoken, was seated in the chair in front of the computer, and smiled gently at Ivy when she looked over at her. Ivy smiled back, her anxiety ebbing slightly.

Yumi, meanwhile, was sitting with her back to the wall, just as Ivy and Michael had done the night before, her nose buried in a textbook. As Ivy watched, the woman held up a finger to indicate to them to wait, reading to the end of the section before marking her place and turning her attention to the two students that had just emerged from the elevator. In one glance, she seemed to have taken in the body language and the distance between Ivy and Michael and made an assessment of the situation. Her mouth thinned into a determined line.

"Thank you for coming," Aelita said now, addressing them both. "I know this might seem a little bit sudden to start training tonight, after having just learned about all of this yesterday. However, after this morning we all thought… Well, Jeremie in particular thought that you guys should start learning right away."

"This morning?" Ivy echoed back blankly.

Aelita glanced down, and it seemed to Ivy that she was a little bit embarrassed. "When we realized you were on Lyoko, well… we panicked. We brought everyone back, when we really shouldn't have, especially not me. As far as we knew, there was an active tower and for some reason the superscan was not picking it up. If you'll recall, I went back early this morning." Together, Ivy and Michael nodded. Ivy remembered Aelita leaving in the middle of the conversation the night before, accompanied by Ulrich, who had been relatively quiet throughout the long explanation. "We searched every sector. There was no activated tower. XANA had to have deactivated the tower himself sometime after we left Lyoko, without launching an attack at all."

"But that's not true," Michael pointed out, speaking for the first time, as far as Ivy knew, since this morning. "He messed up my phone when I was in class."

"Yes, that's right," Yumi agreed. "But that was before the tower was deactivated. More importantly, why would XANA bother doing this? It doesn't make sense."

Aelita picked up the conversation again. "Precisely. Jeremie feels that XANA used your phone to get his attention. While we have no proof of this, it's not an impossibility, and if XANA was trying to get our attention on purpose…"

"... he's bound to have something nasty planned," finished Yumi.

"Which is where we come in?" Ivy inquired.

"Right." Yumi gave a nod and got to her feet. "If the battle against XANA is going to be starting again soon, the truth is that you two and Jeremie are going to be able to get here the fastest. Tonight is when we find out what you can do."

* * *

This time when Ivy was confronted with the prospect of getting into the scanner, she only hesitated for a moment, looking first at Yumi then at Michael. Knowing what to expect made the process much easier. However, she was surprised to find when she opened her eyes that she was not looking down upon a desert, but suspended above a land of white instead. "It's changed," she gasped, but did not have time to think anything else because she found herself plummeting to the ground. Beside her, Michael tried to catch himself and stumbled, and Yumi landed perfectly. Ivy landed flat on her back.

"Oof…" Ivy stared up at the sky for a moment before sitting up slowly to find Yumi offering a hand. She gave the woman a small, embarrassed smile, and glanced over at Michael in time to see him look quickly away from her. She rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Where are we going, Aelita?" Yumi called up to the sky as Ivy got to her feet.

"Thirty degrees north," Aelita reported back. "There's a good place to train and a convenient tower nearby."

Yumi gave a nod that Aelita could not see, then took off in what Ivy assumed was the correct direction, gesturing for them to follow.

It was a minute or two before Ivy heard it - the strange whirring and stomping of something large and mechanical. She had just enough time to wonder if they would be facing more Bloks when the creatures came into view. Three huge, pale green creatures with four long legs, a disc-shaped body, and what seemed to be six eyes on the front of its head. "What are those?" she heard Michael ask.

Yumi looked at the monsters, then back at her two pupils. "Krabs," she said simply. "Jeremie and Aelita style, of course. You won't find any monsters on Lyoko unless there is an active tower somewhere, so today we had to make our own."

"Okay," Ivy said, readying her weapon and feeling a faint flutter of excitement and nerves. "How do we beat them and what do we have to be careful of?"

"Aim for the Eye of XANA," instructed Yumi. "It's on the top of their heads. As for what to be careful of… Don't get hit by the lasers, and don't stand directly underneath them." With that, she folded her arms and stood back to watch.

"Alright then…" Ivy said, mostly to herself. She was just wondering what Yumi was talking about with the lasers when the Krabs opened fire. Ivy dove out of the way, sprinting off to one side and trying to find a good position to use her staff. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then threw her staff like a javelin, aiming for the eye on the top of the creature's head. To her surprise, it found its mark on the very first try, and the creature exploded.

A flash of blue-white light attracted her attention. Michael was trying his own luck with another Krab, but not having the same success. She sprinted over to retrieve her staff, only to find herself pinned down by fire from the third Krab. "Crap," she muttered, ducking behind an outcropping of ice to try to re-strategize.

Michael was coming closer to where she hid from her opponent Krab, searching for cover. She watched as a laser struck him squarely in the chest, and he landed flat on his back. Groaning, he fumbled with the tracking device on the side of his head, trying to activate it and get to his feet at the same time. He managed the tracking device first, and used it to take aim at the Krab's leg, sending another blue-white bolt from his gun. Whatever had come out of it, the Krab's back leg was instantly vaporized. The creature tottered and fell, leaving the eye exposed, but also leaving Michael facing the underbelly, which Ivy could now see was not solid but was some sort of tightly-closed mechanism. As she watched, the mechanism shifted, and Ivy suddenly remembered Yumi's warning not to stand under them. It must be some sort of weapon. And Michael, still in a half-crouch, wasn't going to be able to get up in time.

Ivy bolted out of her hiding place, taking the opening that Michael had given her. She stabbed her staff hard into the Eye on the top of its head, then backed away just in time. The creature's legs twitched then it, too, exploded. Panting a little, she gave Michael a smile. "Good job," she said.

He stared at her, then slowly, hesitantly, he returned the smile. In the time that it took for her to register that this was the first time that she had ever seen him genuinely smile, the expression had disappeared, replaced by fear. "Hey, watch it!" he called out, pointing behind her.

Ivy started to turn, remembering the third Krab, but too late. A laser struck her in the back and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could while clutching her unwieldy staff, ready to defend herself, but she need not have bothered. Michael had placed himself between her and the monster, and had managed to dispatch the final Krab. He turned to her now, replacing his gun in its holster and seeming to debate something. At last he just looked at her, not smiling now but not hostile either. "You… You should be more careful," he said gruffly.

"You think?" Ivy gave him a little smile. "But thanks."

"Good job," Yumi said, walking over to them before their conversation could continue. "You work well together… when you are working together. Neither of you seem very familiar with your weapons yet, particularly you, Michael - though I suspect, Ivy, that that first throw was not so much skill as a natural talent and a lot of luck. We will need to practice a lot more with those, but perhaps no more monsters tonight. You've both been hit, and you are low on life points."

"Lifepoints?" Michael asked.

"Lifepoints," Yumi repeated. "You have a limited number. Once they run out, you're devirtualized. And take it from me, it is not a pleasant experience."

"Both of them took one hit, so they each have sixty lifepoints left," Aelita informed them from the lab.

"All right, Aelita. My old training spot with Ulrich was around here, wasn't it?" Yumi asked, scanning the surroundings.

"That's right," Aelita confirmed. "About 300 meters away, on the platform to your right."

"Come on, you two," Yumi said, gesturing to her two charges. "We don't need vehicles for such a short distance. Besides, any Lyoko warrior needs to know how to jump from platform to platform. Be careful not to touch the water." She jumped off of the main platform onto a bridge of smaller pieces of ice that connected the two platforms.

"Why not?" Michael asked as the two of them followed. "What's down there?"

"The digital void." Something about the way that Yumi said these words gave Ivy pause.

"What's wrong with the digital void?" inquired Ivy as she followed in Yumi's footsteps, Michael bringing up the rear.

"Well…" The woman hesitated, then shook her head. "We will talk about it some other time. Just take my advice, stay on the platforms. Okay?"

Ivy glanced behind to exchange a look with Michael. "Okay then," she agreed.

At last, they climbed onto the main platform. Ivy could see at once why Yumi had chosen this for training. It contained a large open space, and was surrounded by high walls with a few ice "steps" for climbing and jumping, even potentially for target practice. "All right," Yumi said, turning to them and looking the two students over. "Have either of you had any previous training?"

"Training? Like what?" Ivy asked.

"Combat. Martial arts, self defense…" Yumi gestured vaguely.

"Oh. No, not really," she answered, shaking her head. Michael just shrugged.

The Japanese woman sighed. "Okay. Ulrich or I can work on training you in Pencak Silat during your free time."

"Pancake-what?" echoed Ivy.

"It's a form of martial arts," Yumi explained. "We can go into more detail about it when you actually start to learn. Let's see… Aelita, should we do an analysis on their weapons, do you think?"

"Doing it as we speak," answered Aelita. Sure enough, Ivy jumped slightly as her staff issued a slight humming noise, and saw Michael look around at his pistol. "Results coming up now." There was a slight pause as Aelita skimmed the data. "Michael's weapon is a type of ray gun. The intensity of the charges that it fires depends on how longs he holds the trigger. There does not appear to be any limit to how many times it may be used, but it takes longer to recharge after each use. The recoil also depends on how long he holds the trigger, so Michael is probably going to need a lot of practice before he can accurately use his weapon."

"What about mine, Aelita?" Ivy asked, looking up to the sky.

"As you already know, your weapon can be used as a spear. It also appears that you can create vines to wrap around your opponents by hitting the staff on the ground. These vines are poisonous to the touch. This seems to double as your special ability."

"Special ability?" Michael asked. "Don't I have a special ability?"

"You do." Aelita's voice sounded uncertain now. "It's very unclear here. The program confirm that you have one, and that it somehow affects your weapon, but any more than that, I can't tell you. I'll ask Jeremie to take a look at it. Maybe he'll know."

The boy visibly wilted at Aelita's words. Despite his attitude the past couple of days, Ivy could not help but feel bad for him. "I'm sure we'll figure out your ability soon, Michael," she said soothingly.

Michael shrugged, suddenly the same sullen and bad-tempered boy as always. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway. Are we done now?" This last comment was directed at Yumi, and was not so much a question as a demand.

"No," replied Yumi sharply. "I thought that we should have the two of you spar for me to get a better assessment of your abilities."

Michael looked from Yumi to Ivy and then back again. "Fine," he said shortly, turning to face Ivy. The atmosphere suddenly changed, becoming very tense.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Michael," Ivy said, preparing her staff and eyeing him warily.

No sooner than she had said this then Michael sprang forward, grabbing the arm with the staff and trying to twist it behind her back. Taken by surprise, Ivy struggled against him, but his grip was very tight. She knew that she had no chance to get away like this, so focused her energy on holding onto the staff for dear life and waiting for an opening.

This opening came a moment or two later. Michael had been so quick to act that he had not bother to retrieve his weapon, and now was trying to hold onto her arm and get the gun at the same time, his left hand scrabbling for it clumsily. His grip on her arm loosened, allowing her to rip herself away from him. A distant memory of childhood gymnastics lingered. She hoped it was enough. Ivy backflipped away from him, surprised and relieved when she managed to stick the landing. She slammed her staff into the ground, sending vines toward Michael, but she did not stop to see if he was tangled in them, continuing to move to make herself a difficult target.

She heard a small explosion, and looked back to see Michael aiming his gun at his own feet. The vines had wrapped around his ankles, and he had used the pistol to vaporize them. She sent more at him. "Better hurry up now. That poison should get rid of your lifepoints pretty quickly," she teased, smirking.

The boy let a noise of surprise and annoyance, dodging out of the way of vines that had sprung up and were reaching like tentacles toward him, trying to trip of bind him. Ivy was certain of victory… the next moment she was knocked off of her feet by a shockwave from Michael's gun. "Nice hit, Michael," she muttered, mostly to herself, as she tried to get to her feet. Fortunately Michael had found his way impeded by more vines, giving her time to recover.

But not enough time. Michael's hand found her shoulder, and he pulled them both over. Recovering first, he slammed her arm with the staff against the ground, then pinned her to the ground with his legs, drawing his gun and placing it briefly on her temple. "I… win…" he panted.

She considered struggling, but she knew that she was beaten, so instead Ivy went limp. "Good… job…" she replied, looking up at him. "Aren't you.. going to shoot?"

Michael blinked at her. "Of course not… Why would I?" He replaced his weapon and released her arm, rolling off of her. The boy was grinning from ear to ear. "You did great," he commented, now sitting beside her.

She stretched a bit as she sat up, slightly perplexed by the reappearance of Michael's cheerful self. Evidently he was not as sore of a winner as he was a loser. "You too," she said, giving him a small smile. "That gun has some punch. How long did you hold the trigger?"

"I didn't," he replied, then paused. "How long do the poison effects work, do you know?" he added, suddenly sounding a little nervous. "I don't want to be disappearing out of nowhere."

"Um… To be honest I don't know," Ivy admitted guiltily.

"Michael has about forty lifepoints left," Aelita informed the group at large. "It seems to decrease about ten lifepoints per minute."

"Well, great," Michael said to the sky, a touch sarcasm in his voice. Ivy smiled. The sarcasm was much more familiar, coming from him. "Is there any way to, say, stop it?"

"I don't think so. I don't think we've tried to heal people. I could try." With that, Aelita went quiet.

"Yes, please do. I would much prefer to stay around." Michael was glaring at the sky now, but received no answer. Ivy could not help but smile more, and all of a sudden she felt awful.

"Hey, Michael… I'm sorry for dumping my breakfast on you…" she said quietly

Michael shifted uncomfortably. "I… s'pose that it might sort of have been my fault. Maybe." His face reddened slightly and looked away. "I.. I'm sorry for... being like I am… It's just all that I know how to do, okay?"

"Apology accepted. I know how your mouth moves faster than your mind sometimes. But your words still hurt." This last part she said so softly that it was nearly inaudible.

"'My mouth moves faster than my mind'?" Michael echoed in injured tones. "I wouldn't go as far to stay that. But… I understand. And I… I feel bad I just…" He struggled for words, still not looking at her. His whole face was scarlet now.

"Sorry Michael." She was fighting to keep back a laugh at how bad Michael was getting at this, and how easily his pride was wounded. "But that _was_ the best way to put it."

His eyes flicked to her face, but he looked away as soon as he noticed she was smiling at him. The boy shook his head and stood up abruptly. "Come on." He hesitated, then offered her his hand, just as Yumi had when they first arrived on Lyoko today.

Ivy nodded and stood up, a little too quickly. She stumbled forward, steadying herself on his arms. She felt him tense against her, and his expression was quite stricken, but he waited until he was certain that she had her balance before stepping way. "Y-You should be more careful," was all he said, refusing to meet her eyes again.

"Yeah." She found her own voice was a little shaky with surprise. "Sorry, Michael."

"Good job, you two."

Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin. She had almost forgotten that Yumi was there. Now her own face reddened as she realized that she had been watching her whole interaction with Michael. "Th-Thanks," she mumbled, wishing that she could disappear.

"But not perfect," Yumi added, her tone business-like. "Michael, your technique with the gun was very good, but that as a big risk to take, shooting an ally. You could have devirtualized her. You should work to determine how much your power ranges. Also, you lost a lot of time with the vines and you became easily distracted. Your initial attack was not well thought out, for you could not attack and hold onto her at the same time.

"And you, Ivy. You had a good idea to keep moving so that you would be difficult to target, but you lost track of your opponent. I noticed this while you were fighting the Krabs, too. While Michael lacks patience and planned poorly, he has thus far stayed aware of his opponent at all times. Also, your weapon may be powerful but it comes with the drawback of having to stop to use it, which leaves you extremely vulnerable. You will have to plan accordingly in future battles.

"Both of your lack finesse, and you will need practice. In spite of this, you both did very w-" She was cut off by a yelp of surprise from Michael as his body suddenly dissolved and he disappeared into a shower of pixels. "Well," she finished, shaking her head.

"I kept his lifepoints going for as long as I could," Aelita said apologetically. "I'll bring you back in as well." Ivy nodded, and the world dissolved around her. A moment later she found herself standing in the scanner once more.

Michael was in the scanner across from her, sheet-white and sweating buckets "That _blows_ ," he complained to Yumi, leaning against the scanner and panting. "Isn't there any way you can make it smoother?"

"When you're devirtualized? No, not as far as we've found." Yumi shrugged, stepping delicately out of her scanner. "You get used to it."

* * *

Up in the lab, Ivy was surprised to find that Jeremie had joined them while they were on Lyoko. Aelita appeared to be lecturing him as the elevator doors opened. "... told you to go home and rest, Jeremie."

"We will," Jeremie assured her. "Once we give them the booklets."

"What booklets?" Michael asked loudly as they got out of the elevator.

Jeremie waved them back. "Don't bother," he said. "You're set for tonight. You did very well, so I hear. I am just here to give you these."

He handed over a pair of what Ivy would qualify as a small book rather than a booklet. Ivy thumbed through the booklet. The contents seemed to be of complicated computer code. Beside her, Michael gave a groan. "What _is_ this?"

"We want you to be, if not completely proficient, at least familiar with the workings of the supercomputer," Jeremie explained. "So read it, know it."

"Why?" Ivy inquired. "Aren't you going to run the supercomputer?"

"I intend to, yes, or Aelita can. We just want to be prepared in case you ever need to… to operate it without us. If anything ever happens to us." Jeremie's voice was somber.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Jeremie -"(The man's face darkened considerably at not being addressed as "Mr. Belpois") "- sorry to say, but you worry WAY too much."


	5. In Which Time Passes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to imagine cheesy montage music in the background of this chapter.

For all of Jeremie's talk of impending doom and constant vigilance, the attack did not come in the night. Nor did it come the next day, or the day after that. In fact, what followed was two weeks of relative peace.

Michael was hesitant to admit it, but they had been the happiest he had been since arriving at Kadic, and even some of the best times of his life.

* * *

It had been two weeks today that Ivy and Michael had snuck back onto campus for the first time. Jeremie had flatly refused to drive them, saying that it would be too suspicious having them come back in his car if anyone saw them, and that Jim would surely catch them if they tried to get on to the school grounds through the gate. Michael had never before noticed how creepy the park was that night, and he suspected that Ivy shared the same sentiment. The two of them stuck close together and moved quickly to return to the well-lit safety of dormitories, and Michael found himself thinking for the first time (but not the last) how glad that he was that Ivy was with him.

It had been thirteen days since Lucas had made it clear that he was not going to leave Ivy and Michael alone. He had invited Ivy to join their table again, though what madness possessed him to think that this was a good idea, Michael would never know. Ivy declined and continued her solitary breakfast, this time with a book for company. Lucas spent the rest of the meal trying to wheedle information out of Michael instead. Michael, accustomed to this by now, had brushed him off easily. He was relieved that Lucas wasn't going to cause a fight between himself and Ivy again thanks to Ivy's good sense, but when she rejected Lucas' offer he felt just the tiniest twinge of disappointment.

It had been twelve days since he had scraped by on the cumulative review. How Michael had managed to pass was a small miracle, a sentiment which was shared by Jeremie who told Michael in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to continue as a Lyoko warrior that he needed to start studying harder. Michael did not take this well.  
"Look," Jeremie said, trying to be firm. "The fact of the matter is, if there is a XANA attack, you may end up missing class. Your grades will struggle enough as it is, so you need to buckle down. You're a smart kid –"  
"Oh, really?" Michael's voice dripped sarcasm. "Thank you so much, I never knew. Now all my hopes and dreams can come true!"  
Jeremie continued as if Michael had not spoken. "- so I need you to act like it and get it together. If you just tried studying for a change –"  
Michael was done listening. The boy stalked off, muttering murderously under his breath. Jeremie didn't understand.

It had been eleven days since the team had shown them Sector Five. They were exploring the last of the sectors that they had yet to visit, the Desert, and Michael had just decided that this was his favorite when Aelita turned to them and said "Do you want to see something else?" Ivy and Michael had been eager to explore this new sector, while Aelita told them all about how, once upon a time, Sector Five had been different every time and a key needed to be triggered to keep it stable. Michael knew that he should not, but could not help but wish that this protocol was still in place. He found the whole idea of Lyoko almost unbearably exciting.  
Aelita even showed them the Skidbladnir, the ship that they had used to search the Internet for traces of XANA. Jeremie had insisted they recreate it a few years previously, "just in case". Michael begged to be taken on to the ship, but Aelita had just laughed and assured him that they would go one day, but not today. Michael found, with all he had seen that day, that he could not bring himself to be too disappointed.

It had been ten days since Michael had agreed to tutoring. Much as he loathed the idea of being stuck in a classroom with Jeremie, (on a Saturday, no less!) he had to admit that Jeremie could very easily keep him from Lyoko, if he was so inclined. Unhappily, Michael had made his way to Jeremie's classroom at the agreed-upon time, expecting to be bored to tears.  
He was surprised. Jeremie did indeed wait for him, but he was not alone. Instead, the brown-haired young man who had spoken very little when they had first met stood beside him. And, while Jeremie did provide the materials and interjected from time to time, it was Ulrich who did most of the talking.  
For the first time in as long as he could remember, Michael had met someone who did not make him feel stupid. Ulrich never made the presumption that Michael was not trying, and he was extremely patient. When Michael had difficulty, Ulrich and Jeremie explained the concepts together, and Michael found that when the two of them worked together to explain what was being asked of him, he could understand. Once the two hour study session ended, Michael even gave them a quiet, embarrassed "Thank you" before rushing out of the room so they could not see that his eyes were just the slightest bit overbright.

It had been nine days since Odd had taken them racing. Jeremie had initially disapproved, stating that they should be focusing seriously on learning how to fight. Odd had been adamant.  
"Aw come on, Einstein," he had whined. "We used to do stuff like that all the time on Lyoko. Ulrich said you kept Michael cooped up forever yesterday studying. It's time to let them have a little bit of fun. And besides," he added, "it's a great chance to teach them about Way Towers. If they pick the wrong ones, they'll just end up in the same sector, right?"  
Grudgingly, Jeremie had conceded, but when it came time to actually race, he seemed as cheerful as anyone. Odd claimed the Overboard, and Michael and Ivy flipped for the Overbike. Michael won, but wiped out in the Ice sector. While Odd beat them both handily, Ivy came in second with ease. Michael complained that it wasn't fair, but not as loudly as he might have other days, and he and Ivy agreed to have a rematch someday.

It had been eight days since Lucas seemed to have decided to leave them alone. Despite the fact that surely the boy must know that Ivy and Michael were sneaking off together – for at this point, half of the school was whispering about it – he had conceded that his prying was doing nothing but making them both uncomfortable. He dropped the subject, though every so often when Michael caught Ivy's eye or stopped her to tell her something, Michael caught Lucas giving them a knowing smile. Michael found this deeply irritating, and resolved to start avoiding Ivy at school to quash the rumors.

In fact, by the very next day, Michael had decided never to speak to Ivy again. Looking back on it, Michael could honestly not recall what the fight had been about. The training session on Lyoko had not gone particularly well. Michael had been devirtualized for the second time and, whatever Yumi said, he was firmly convinced that it was never going to get any better. Jeremie had sent them home early, and it was still before curfew when Ivy and Michael returned to the school, which meant that at least two students saw them emerge from the woods together. Michael knew that this would only fuel the rumors about them, and Ivy just would not stop talking to him.  
He did not remember exactly what was said. When Michael got angry he tended to say whatever first came to his mind, and what came to his mind was often very unkind. All he remembered is by the end of their shouting match in the courtyard Ivy was crying again, and Jim was standing between them threatening to send both of them to the principal's office. For once, Lucas had the good sense not to ask if he wanted to talk about it.

The silence had lasted less than a day. Michael had been considering all day how to broach the subject of separate training sessions with Jeremie. He never got the chance to. During their last class of the day, Ivy and Michael received a text simply reading "SOS XANA". As he had been trained to do, Michael started to raise his hand to ask to go to the infirmary, but Ivy's hand punched the air first. He volunteered instead to go with her, and five minutes later they were sprinting down the tunnel to the factory. Michael's stomach was in knots and, judging by Ivy's pallor, she was every bit as nervous as he was.  
In the lab, the two of them stopped short. The sense of urgency that they had both felt when the call came drained away as they found Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi inside, staring at the computer with confusion. It was Aelita who told them that it was another false alarm, that the tower had, for whatever reason, deactivated itself again.  
"Is that normal?" Ivy had asked. "I mean, has that happened before?"  
"Once. A very long time ago. That was because XANA was tricking us, pretending to be my father," Aelita told them quietly.  
Jeremie was transfixed by the computer screen and seemingly unaware of the conversation going on around him. As the elevator deposited a winded Ulrich and Odd, he put his face in his hands. "He has to have a plan," the man whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "I don't understand."  
Aelita wrapped her arms around his shoulders and murmured softly in his ear. Yumi gazed at him with what could only be described as pity. For the first time it occurred to Michael that these people, while no longer children, were still quite young.

It had been five days since Jeremie had decided to put their training into overdrive. The aborted attack yesterday had served only to strengthen Jeremie's paranoia, and he informed Ivy and Michael that one of them would be going to Lyoko while the other one stayed behind to run the supercomputer with him. Ivy and Michael flipped for it. Both of them felt like they had lost. And so, while Ivy got to go to Lyoko and fight Tarantulas, Michael was stuck in the lab while Jeremie drilled him on the procedures for running the supercomputer. Stressed and slightly panicked, Michael ended up materializing the Overwing a full two meters above where he was supposed to, meaning that Ivy had to jump for it. The Tarantulas took her down as she tried to haul herself up.  
Michael had apologized (admittedly halfheartedly) to Ivy, and ignored Jeremie's lecture about keeping his head under pressure. He wanted to think that he would have been better if it had been anyone other than Jeremie coaching him, but deep down he was not so certain. That night when they returned to school, instead of falling into bed and passing out at once, Michael found himself at the desk, reading and re-reading the booklet that Jeremie had written up for him and making annotations in the margins.

It had been five days since Michael had heard Ivy laugh for the first time. It was Ivy's turn on the supercomputer, while Michael trained with the semi-unemployed Odd, who showed up to train with them more nights than not. Tonight they were to be fighting Wasps, which Odd felt would make excellent target practice. He had even conceded to allow Michael to fly his beloved Overboard, while Odd himself took the Overbike.  
While Ivy performed admirably in giving directions and information about the swarm, she, too, had a slight hiccup with the vehicles. Ivy was considerably closer than Michael in her judgement of where to virtualize the Overboard, but was slightly too ambitious with how close she tried to place it with Michael. So it was that Michael ended up with the Overboard materialized through the middle of his calf.  
"Ow! Ivy?!" Michael hopped on one foot, trying to shake the Overboard off. Ivy's laughter echoed through Lyoko, while nearby Odd clung to a tree to keep himself from falling over with mirth. In spite of Michael's discomfort, he could not help but smile, and he thanked Ivy when she fixed her mistake. It was nice to remember that she was human, too.

It had been three days since Yumi's promise of Pencak Silat lessons had come true. Jeremie, Ulrich, and Michael had agreed on weekly tutoring sessions until Michael's grades improved, followed by an hour of Pencak Silat practice in the gymnasium. The conditions laid out by the principal were that anyone who wanted to could join, and that Jim was allowed to monitor them whenever he wanted. Since Jim generally spent his Saturday afternoons napping, and no one else seemed to want to join, Michael, Ivy, and Ulrich were alone. Ulrich was every bit as patient of a teacher in this area as he was in math, and for once when something did not come naturally to Michael, he did not feel badly about himself. All of that would come in time, and Michael relished in the chance to stretch his muscles after the study session. The fact that he got to spend yet more time with Ivy was simply a bonus.

It had been two days since Michael had worked up the nerve to ask Ivy to eat breakfast with them. He knew it would just fuel the rumors, and he knew that there was every chance that he and Ivy would start fighting again, Michael found he didn't care. He found, in fact, that the impossible had happened. Michael had made a friend. And he felt like it was about time that Ivy knew that she made one too.  
When Ivy declined his offer, Michael was not as hurt as he had anticipated that he would be. His guess (his hope) was that she was only trying to avoid Lucas. But she gave him a smile as she sent him away, and Michael returned to his table with a smile of his own. Friends.

It had been one night since Ivy and Michael had laughed together for the first time. As they snuck back into school, something that was quickly become a habit, they were faced for the first time with the prospect of being caught. Just as they were about to go up the stairs to the dormitories, they heard a descending pair of feet that could belong to no one other than Jim, out on his nightly patrol. Panicking, Michael grabbed Ivy's arm and dragged her into the supply closet just off of the hall, his heart pounding as Jim wandered past their hiding space to search for intruders outside. It was only once he was gone that Michael realized he had not let go of Ivy this entire time. He released her arm, and as Ivy turned to look at him, he held up his hands apologetically. "I know, I know. 'Don't ever! do that again!'"  
She just stared at him for a few long moments, then a little bit of nervous laughter escaped her. Michael tried to shush her, only to find he was laughing himself, which just made her laugh harder. And so they stood in the cramped little closet, trying to quiet the other while fighting to keep their own laughter contained. At last they bade each other good night, and despite the late hour Michael found himself lying awake fifteen minutes later, smiling too hard to go to sleep.

* * *

Two weeks. Two weeks since they had become Lyoko warriors, two weeks since Michael's life had become immeasurably better.

But that was before it all went wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the last purely happy chapter. It's never going to be quite this good and pure again.


	6. In Which It All Goes Wrong

The adults had warned them the day before that their next training session would be a major test on running the supercomputer. Michael strongly suspected that this was going to be virtualization, and had spent all evening trying to cram that section of the manual Mr. Belpois had given him and Ivy. (This was made slightly more difficult by the presence of Lucas. The very last thing that Michael needed with his roommate catching a glimpse of what he was studying.) Michael had actually wanted to study with her, but both of them had fallen slightly behind as a result of their relentless training. Ivy had been very apologetic and had promised to quiz him on the way to the factory. Michael had assured her it was fine, but without her there was no one to keep him from getting inside of his head. When he finally did get to bed around three that morning, his head was spinning with half-remembered formulas. It took a long time for sleep to find him.

The next day dragged by in a sleep-deprived haze. Michael barely ate at dinner. His stomach was in a knot. On the way Ivy gave tips on the various supercomputer procedures. Well-meaning as she was, this was just making the knot in his stomach threaten to turn inside-out. After a few a few terse, unfocused answers, Ivy got the hint and fell silent until they arrived at the factory.

When the doors to the elevator opened to the lab, Michael saw Aelita sitting at the computer chair typing. She turned and greeted the two with one of her frequent smiles. "Evening. You two ready to run the virtualization aspect of the supercomputer?"

'I knew it," Michael thought. "As ready as I'll ever be," he muttered aloud, and stifled a yawn.

"Alright then. We'll draw straws to see who will go first." Aelita told them holding out two straws in her hand. Michael gestured for Ivy to take the first choice. Ivy bit her lip and closed her eyes while she pulled a long straw from Aelita's hand.

Michael groaned, knowing which one remained in Aelita's hand and pulled and held the short straw in his hand. Typical. "All right, now what?" he asked Aelita irritably, his nerves coming out as annoyance.

"Yumi's down at the scanners. Your task is to virtualize her to the mountain sector. Okay?" Aelita said getting up out of the computer chair.

"What, she lose your straw draw?" Michael groused. Aelita opened her mouth, but could think of nothing to say. "Okay, okay," Michael said, waving a hand to let her off the hook. He sat down heavily at the computer and stared at the keyboard. All of the information he had spent time carefully studying had leaked out of his brain. The boy was at a complete loss. "Uh... Alright, um..." He wished that there was some subtle way to wipe his sweating palms on his pants without them all seeing him. A quick glance at Ivy standing off to one side earned him a reassuring thumbs up, which did make him feel slightly better. "All right, er... Transfer…" The numbers seemed to waver in front of his eyes. He shook his head and tried to focus. "Scanner…" The more he tried to focus, the worse it seemed to get. Michael was sweating now, and fighting to keep the pressure he was feeling off of his expression. "... Virtualization?" He didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but it did.

"Wait!" Aelita cried, but it was too late. The boy had press enter, and the program had executed.

"What?" Michael asked. "What did I do?" There was a moment of terrible silence, save for the machines humming to life beneath their feet. Then a large, rotating exclamation point appeared. "That… doesn't seem right…"

"No, it isn't. Get up please Michael," Aelita said urgently as she looked at the computer screen, worry etched into her face. She quickly sat down, almost pushing Michael to the side and started to typing frantically.

Michael staggered slightly at Aelita's rough treatment. He didn't meet Ivy's eyes even though he could feel them on him. Michael crossed his arms, doing his best to keep his face from betraying his fear that he'd done something seriously wrong.

After a few tense moments of silence and the clicking away at a keyboard, Aelita broke it with a sigh of frustration "We have a problem. The transfer protocol was entered incorrectly. Yumi's stuck in limbo." She cast Michael and Ivy a grave look.

"Limbo?" Michael repeated blankly.

"She is stuck between our world and Lyoko. The only way we can do to get her back is to go to :yoko and retrieve her data from all of the sectors," Aelita explained.

"Oh, you can not be serious," complained Michael.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you messed up." Aelita said. Michael closed his mouth, his face burning with shame and hurt. He would have expected this sort of comment from Jeremie, but from Aelita… His lack of preparation for it made it cut deeper. "Ivy, do you think you can operate the supercomputer while Michael and I go to Lyoko? You should have reinforcements soon."

"I, uh.. I guess so…" Ivy replied nervously.

Michael felt anger bubbling up inside of him again. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on a sec here. I just messed up, so you're putting the other person who has had little practice in charge of running this incredibly complex machine? Meaning that if something happens when she runs it, both of us will end up - where was it again? Oh whatever. My point is you're the only one here who knows what to do, and the only one that can deactivate towers, plus we'd be leaving Ivy all by herself. That seems like a really bad idea to me." Michael shrugged. "But then again, maybe you shouldn't listen to me. I am an idiot, after all."

"I never said that Michael. And maybe you have a point. But I'm the only one that can retrieve the data. If you do want to stay and try again you can… using the manual this time, of course." She gave Michael what seemed to be a genuinely apologetic look, though it was clear she was still quite worried about Yumi. "I'm sorry If I made you seem stupid. You're not. But we have to go. Come on," she said to Ivy, walking toward the elevator.

Anger cooled at once, drenched with sudden, icy fear. "W-wait! Wait a second! That's not what I meant! I meant... Shouldn't we go get one of the others? I mean, they know how to do this stuff for sure..."

Aelita stopped and paused for a moment, thinking "We could do that, but I don't think Ulrich would enjoy hearing Yumi is stuck in limbo though..." Michael went, if possible, even colder at the idea of losing the respect of his new mentor.

"What about Jeremie, then?" Michael asked quickly.

"He is at home resting. He has been pushing himself too much and is now sick in bed," Aelita explained.

"Well, then what about Odd? He probably isn't doing anything right now." Michael argued half-heartedly, starting to feel a little sick himself.

Aelita thought about it for a moment and smiled at herself. "True, he probably is just out walking Kiwi."

Michael breathed a sigh of relief and went over to stand next to Ivy. He felt a lot more comfortable if one of the adults ran the supercomputer rather than him or Ivy - even if they were using their manuals.

Ivy smiled as she looked at Michael. "You okay?" she muttered to him quietly.

"Well, I've been better," Michael said, shrugging again. "The days that I trap people between worlds are never the best."

"True they aren't." Ivy smiled a little more, then looking around as Aelita hung up her phone.

"Well, he's on his way," she informed them ."He'll be here in about thirty minutes. just sit tight and get ready."

"Good," Michael muttered, then fell silent, relaxing against the wall.

* * *

Time took on that strange aspect when you are caught between fear of staying put and dread of what is to come. It seemed to slow to a snail's pace, and yet it seemed in no time at all that Odd came into the computer room "So, what's the emergency? I had to cancel my plans with Liz. We were going to go see James Finson's new movie."

"Sorry Odd, but Yumi got stuck in limbo and we need someone to run the supercomputer while we go get her data," Aelita explained heading to the elevator and motioned for Michael and Ivy to follow.

"Oh gotcha. Well say no more, Odd is here to help!" he replied, understanding immediately, and headed to the supercomputer to get the correct programs started.

Next thing Michael knew, he was falling down to the mountain sector. He landed on his feet and looked around, waiting for the other two to land. By now, Ivy had practiced enough that she stuck the landing, and Aelita appeared smoothly beside them. "So, where are we going?" he asked of her.

"We're going to one of the towers that holds Yumi's data in it." Aelita explained pointing west of where they were presently and then waved her hand over her wrist. Spreading her wings, she took to the air and led the way.

"Okay, sure, that makes sense," Michael muttered, running after her with Ivy in back. It was only a few minutes before they reached the first tower. Michael and Ivy had seen the towers from a distance, white pillars with a glow almost like a colored heat haze around it, and had even used this particular one because it was a Way Tower, but they had never seen Aelita deactivate one before. In fact, Michael could not recall watching anyone else go into a tower, and wondered what it must look like to an outsider. "It's in the Way Tower?" he asked.

"Yes it is," Aelita confirmed as she landed and started to jog towards it. "Stay out here and guard the tower in case anything comes towards us. XANA has been quiet, but I still do not want him playing any tricks." With this final instruction, she disappeared into the tower, appearing to merge with it before vanishing completely. Michael mumbled something in which the word "freaky" was audible, then faced away from the tower, gazing out instead onto the empty platform in case any monsters came along.

Silence fell. He felt like he should say something. Michael shifted uncomfortably and gave a small cough. "So..."

Ivy glanced at Michael, turning to look at him "Sorry about not helping you study last night, Ms. Hertz's project took a little bit longer than it should have," she apologized, filling in the gap of silence.

"It's fine...Probably was for the best, there are enough rumors flying around about us that I bet you'd rather not have another if people saw us studying together," Michael responded with a shrug.

"You know, at this point people are going to talk regardless of what actually happens. Just as long as they don't say anything to me that's fine by me," Ivy said with a sigh shaking her head.

Michael opened his mouth about to say something more, but stopped when he saw Aelita walk out of the tower ."Alright, I retrieved the data from this sector. We need to get to the next sector," she reported, looking at the two. "Follow me," she added, turning around and walking back into the tower.

Michael took a deep breath as he took a step into the tower. He still wasn't quite used to entering these things despite going through them a few times already. Once they were on the platform, Aelita looked at the two "Stay close. We're heading to the forest sector next." She spread her arms and fell into the data stream down below them.

Michael bit his lip, his face draining of color watched Aelita float across the data stream and hesitantly took a step back away from the edge of the platform. "Y-You know what? You go ahead, Ivy. I'll catch up in a sec…"

"Alright fine. See you in a bit," Ivy said. The momentary relief was erased as she grabbed his hand and dragged him over the platform, following Aelita. Michael gasped and shut his eyes as they fell. All of a sudden, gravity seemed to reverse itself, and they were floating. He and Ivy touched down lightly onto the platform.

He tore his hand away from Ivy. "What the hell was that?" he demanded, his face still devoid of all color.

"I was just making sure you were coming," Ivy said smiling at him "Sorry, I'll give you warning next time." she added, looking around for Aelita.

"Like hell you will!" Michael glared at her. "You don't _do_ that to people. What is wrong with you?"

"Sorry. I didn't think you would react that badly," Ivy said putting her hands up in surrender.

"Well, maybe you should ask next time," Michael snarled. "Don't make decisions for me. I can think for myself, all right?"

"I just thought I would help you with your fear of falling," Ivy said defensively.

"I don't have a fear of falling," Michael shot back at her. "Don't assume that you know me!"

"I don't know you, Michael. I just guessed that because whenever you've had to jump off of something you always hesitate." Ivy had crossed her arms now.

"Well, don't assume things about me, then," Michael snapped. He was furious, and this time he felt that he had reason to be. After all, what he did was his own business. "Because if you assume wrong - like you just did - people tend to think that you're unintelligent and pushy."

"Well fine by me!" Ivy snapped, matching his anger as she glared at him.

Michael decided not to wait to see where Aelita had gone to. He turned around and stormed across the platform to leave the tower, seething. Upon exiting the tower, he saw Aelita standing outside waiting for the two of them

"Sorry, I probably should have told you I was going to wait outside," she started apologetically, then stopped short as she noticed the anger on Michael's face. "Um, is something wrong?"

"Nothing," Michael snarled. "Just leave me alone. Are we going to find the other tower or not?"

"Yes. I was waiting for you and Ivy to come out, but I guess I'll just go by myself and leave you two alone." Aelita said turning and walked off towards the tower.

"So, You two had another fight?" Odds voice came out from above the digital forest around Michael after a few minutes of alone time.

Michael jumped. He'd forgotten that they were not alone. "How is that your business?" he growled, looking up at the sky even though he knew Odd could not see him.

"Aelita was worried about you two so instead of her barging into the tower I decided to eavesdrop into the tower instead. Why do you two fight so much when you make such a good couple?" Odd's voice was amused.

Michael's face flushed scarlet, and for a moment he so was angry at being teased that he was lost for words, his mouth working soundlessly. "Fuck you," he finally managed to get out. "You… You don't know what you're talking about. Who on earth would want to go out with her? Certainly not me! She's boring and annoying and thinks that she's God's gift to the world of intelligence!"

The next thing Michael knew, vines ripped apart the ground under him. He had only a second of warning from the sound of crumbling earth, and stumbled a few paces back, just barely missing the vines. He looked from them, twisting in the place that they had been only moments before, to the girl who had sent them. "So that's what you think about me Michael? Boring and annoying?" Ivy growled at him, glaring dangerously as she took a step towards him.

Michael's face had gone nearly as white as it had done in the tower. "You…" He was torn between anger and remorse. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Oh so you were just yelling it to the skies about me?"Ivy asked, red-faced with anger and still brandishing her staff.

"I was talking to Odd," he said, surprised into an answer. It was strange, really. Usually, he was the one who lost control. Now that she was furious, he seemed more level-headed. "If you'd just calm down, I can expla-."

"Oh sure," Ivy snapped, interrupting him "I try to calm you down when you get mad at me and you expect me to do the same? Forget it!" She shouted taking another step towards him.

Michael raised his hands defensively. "I know that I can be crazy sometimes, yeah. But you've got to trust me. I didn't mean that, I swear." Michael did not even care that Odd might still be listening. He knew that he'd said something horrible and couldn't imagine what that must have felt like to hear it.

"Yeah, right. When was the last time you said something that you didn't mean?" she growled at him, continuing to advance towards him.

Without thinking, Michael took a few steps back. "All the time," he said with complete honesty. "I just blow up and I can't think straight. You know that."

"Yes. But that still doesn't give you the excuse to say those things about me." His words seemed to only make her angrier, she continued to move toward him even as Michael continued to back away.

"Yes, I know, I don't mean them. I was just saying it to shut him up." Michael gestured at the sky, but even as he said the words, he knew that it was hopeless. Some part of him, however small, had meant it, and it was this part of him that had supplied the venom with which he spat the words, which made them seem cruel and true. But the rest, the part that had gotten to know Ivy over the past two weeks… "I would never have said that to you."

"So you decided to say that when I wasn't there. I get it Michael. You hate me. I'm sorry I ever tried to be nice to you," she said.

Michael blinked. "What?" She thought that he hated him? Well, he supposed that it was only logical, but it wasn't true. He wanted to come forward and tell her this, but such rage was emanating from her that he took just one more step back... and slipped.

Michael felt himself slide from the platform. He reached out his arms, desperately scrabbling for any handhold but found nothing but air. He saw the anger drain from Ivy's face, saw her reach out her hand to try to catch him. Her fingertips brushed against his palm, almost closing her hand around his...but it was too late. His hand slipped away, and he was tumbling down to the surface of the virtual sea. The last thing he heard was Ivy screaming his name, before quite suddenly, everything went silent. But he continued to fall down, and down, and down, and...


	7. In Which There Is Silence

Cold. The blankets that they had given her were warm, and the bed was soft, but Ivy was colder than she could ever remember being. She had long since run out of tears to shed, and in its place was a sort of numbness that chilled her to the very core. Again and again, she went over the evening in her mind, trying to make sense of it. Everything came after Michael had fallen she only recalled in fragments.

_… She was screaming. She was not sure how long she had been calling Michael's name, every moment expecting Michael to reappear from the waves down below, and every moment terrified as he did not. She could dimly recall the roar of the Overbike, but it wasn't until Ulrich was shaking her shoulder that time had started to move again for her. How long had it been, then? It could not have been long. Aelita was still in the tower._

_Ulrich's face was grim as he pulled Ivy gently but firmly away from the edge. "I was too late," he said. It wasn't until Odd responded that Ivy realized that the comment was not meant for her._

_"I should have called you sooner. Jeremie's going to kill me…" Odd replied in a hushed voice._

_Aelita emerged from the tower in time to hear Odd's comment. "What happened?" she asked._

_"Michael," was all Ivy said…_

_… Ulrich's hands were on Ivy's shoulders. "No, Ivy, no," he told her in a tone that left no room for argument. "This is not your fault."_

_"Yes it is," Ivy sobbed. She was not sure when she had started crying, or even how this conversation had started, but now that it had started she couldn't seem to stop. "I was the one that lost control of my emotions. I was the one who pushed Michael all the way to the edge of the platform. I made him slip. It's all my fault."_

_"It's not your fault," Ulrich repeated. "And I'm sure that Michael knows that too. You tried to save him." Ivy remembered wondering faintly whether Ulrich had seen her reach for him or if it was just a guess. In either case, it offered her little comfort. "There was nothing anyone could have done. Now it's not too late to save him, or to save Yumi. But we have to keep moving, okay?" His voice was kind, but there was an undeniable urgency to his words. Ivy knew that they needed to keep going to help Yumi. Weakly, she nodded…_

_… They were in the scanner room. Ulrich and Ivy had returned home, but Aelita still waited on Lyoko. "Just in case," she had said. As if something else could go wrong today._

_Thankfully when the scanner doors opened, Yumi was leaning against them, looking pale and shaky but none the worse for wear. She half-walked, half-fell out of the scanner. Ulrich caught and steadied her. "Michael screwed up, didn't he?" she rasped and gave him a half-smile that he did not return. Upon seeing their expressions, she grew sober. "Oh no. What happened now?"…_

_… All of them stood in the lab, with the exception of Jeremie who sat in the chair. He had a blanket wrapped around him, and his eyes were bright with fever. Every so often the chills going through him would be enough that he had to stop typing for a moment, but as soon as they passed he would resume his work with a single-minded determination. It fell to everyone else to explain to Ivy the specifics of the virtual sea._

_Through her haze of shock and grief, Ivy only picked up bits and pieces. Michael was lost… they had experienced this once in the past, and had retrieved someone, but only barely… these first few hours were the best chance they had to locate him… if they could not, it might be days or weeks before they could find him. The group was too kind to say it, but Ivy sensed the truth. There was a chance that Michael would never be found..._

_… She was entering Yumi's apartment. The group, Ivy included, had agreed that it was best if Ivy did not return to the school tonight, since she did not have a roommate to miss her and the adults did not want her to be alone tonight. Odd and Ulrich had been the first to volunteer their apartment, but Yumi had vetoed this idea, pointing out that hers was more comfortable and closer to the factory so that they could be there at a moment's notice – not to mention the fact that she owned a couch and a futon for the three of them, as opposed to Odd and Ulrich's pair of beanbag chairs. The three of them had agreed, and while Aelita and Jeremie stayed behind to look for Michael, the three Lyoko warriors brought Ivy here._

_Yumi and Odd had both insisted that Ivy should try to eat something, but she was not hungry. The plate that they had given her Ivy set on the dresser, untouched, then laid down in the bed and closed her eyes. The girl was exhausted, too tired to even cry anymore. But sleep did not come…_

… Which brought her to now. Ivy lay in this unfamiliar bed, desperately wishing for the escape of sleep but failing to find it. She wished for home, for times long passed when she could just crawl into bed with her parents and nothing in the world could hurt her. A small, childish part of her wanted to do the same with the three Lyoko warriors sitting vigil in the living room. Ivy knew that she could not. They were not her parents, and nothing they could do could soothe the guilt and the fear tonight. And so Ivy waited, alone.

She must have dozed off at some point, because the next thing Ivy knew, the sound of her phone buzzing was rousing her. In her half-awake state, her first thought was that it must be Michael before she remembered that it could not be. Ivy wondered next if it was Jeremie texting her to tell her Michael had been found. This, too, was incorrect. The number the phone displayed was unfamiliar. Ivy unlocked her phone to read it.

"This is Ivy's phone, right?"

Ivy hesitated a moment before writing back. "Yes… Who is this?"

The reply was prompt. "lucas. Is Michael with you"

Ivy groaned out loud. The last thing she needed was Lucas butting in again. "No. He's not with me," was her terse response.

This time, the reply took longer. "Do you know where he is?"

"No. I don't," lied Ivy.

"brb" Five minutes passed. Ivy was starting to think that Lucas had gone to bed when the reply came suddenly "Just been to your room. Where are you?"

Ivy's heart raced. "What in the world were you doing in my room?" she demanded, anger surging through her, the first thing to break her numb shock in hours.

"Was hoping you were lying so I didn't have to worry." A paused, then another message. "So? Where are you?"

"None of your business."

A long paused. At last: "My roommate is missing. He used to talk seriously about running away, and he's impulsive. I just want to know if he's okay."

Ivy thought a long time before sending her answer. When she did, she was not certain whose benefit it was more meant for, herself or Lucas'. "He's okay."

"….. But you wont tell me where he is will you"

"I don't know where he is but I do know that he's alright." It was exactly the opposite of true.

This answer seemed to mollify Lucas. "OK. But tbh ill probably nag you about it later. Call it the price of making me worry." Another short pause, enough that Ivy had already put down her phone, before Lucas had his final word. "PS. Wouldn't worry though. Michael doesn't kiss & tell".

This last comment brought back memories of what Michael had said on Lyoko, memories that Ivy was not prepared to deal with right now. The girl changed her phone to "Do Not Disturb", placed it face down, then rolled over to look at the walls. She waited.

* * *

The clock on the wall marked the passage of time in deafening finality. Despite the fact that Yumi's apartment had specifically been chosen because it could accommodate all three of them, none of the group had made a move to sleep. Yumi had made them all strong tea when they had first taken up their spots around the table. Around 1:30, they had switched to instant coffee Yumi had dug up from the dark recesses of her pantry, as Yumi herself was not a coffee drinker. It tasted truly abysmal, but Ulrich and Odd did not complain, and all of them drank it. The three of them had enough history that no words were needed, and truly, what was there to say? Nothing. So they sat and they waited, and they tried to think of a way to tell a thirteen year old girl come daybreak that her friend had not been found.

At 2:26, Odd did what Ulrich had been considering doing for hours and put an end to that damnable clock. He simply stood, took the clock from the wall, and removed the batteries. None of them complained. It was the silence that filled the room that prompted Ulrich to speak the thought that he had been turning over and over in his mind for hours. "You were right, Yumi," he said quietly.

"Right about what?" He could tell by the way that she said it that she suspected his meaning, but wanted to be certain.

"You were right. We should never have involved them with Lyoko. We should have thought of another way."

"Do you really think so?" Odd asked, giving him an unusually serious look. "They've been doing so well. I've been training with them nearly every day, and I know you've spent a lot of time with them too."

"That doesn't matter," Ulrich replied. "They're kids. We had no right to get kids mixed up in all of this. Look what's happened. No matter what the circumstances were, we ultimately chose to train them and keep bringing them back to Lyoko. This is our fault."

"And besides," interjected Yumi, "their personalities are quite volatile together. Even if we fought back then –" she cast a quick glance at Ulrich "- it was nothing compared to how they fight. Michael's too… caustic."

"He's getting better," Odd defended. "I mean, I admit I don't know a whole lot about him, but it seems to me that he's loads better than he used to be. He was trying to apologize to Ivy when… when it happened."

"But it happened," Yumi said simply.

Silence fell for a time. Minutes ticked by, now unmarked by the disabled clock. "I don't want them to be kicked off of the team," Odd said at last. "With them around, it's more… I don't know…"

"It's more like it used to be, right?" suggested Yumi, nodding her head in agreement. "I know what you mean."

"Why is that?" Odd asked. "I mean, what happened?"

"Things changed," Yumi tried to explain. "We changed. We're not kids anymore, but when we're training them it's like… we can see the people we used to be. I used to take it seriously back then, I don't want to say that I didn't, it's just that…" She trailed off helplessly. Ulrich, who had identified the feeling weeks ago, supplied the ending.

"It's that failure is more of a real possibility, when you're an adult," he stated quietly. "Back when we were young, it was as though we could fail but we weren't going to because we wouldn't let it happen. Now… we know that it happens whether you let it or not, sometimes. The weight of all those near misses, and now what still might happen… sometimes it just gets to you."

"Especially after seeing what it did to Jeremie," Odd added in a voice that was almost inaudible. Conversation died as they all tried carefully not to think about how different Jeremie's life might have been had it not been for Lyoko. At last, Odd broke the silence again. "I still don't think that we should talk to Ivy about her leaving the team until Michael is back."

'If he comes back,' Ulrich thought, and knew that all of them were thinking the same. "I agree," he said aloud. "If it was one of us…"

"If it was one of us…" echoed Yumi, nodding her head again. "We would never be willing to just sit waiting until our friend was back. She can fight, so long as it does not become too dangerous, but if it does then she needs to let us take care of it. We will need to communicate all of this to her."

"Right," Odd said. "But not tonight."

"No, no. Not tonight."

* * *

Light was just beginning to tinge the skies when Ivy was shaken awake gently by Yumi. As she opened her eyes blearily, she heard the words that made her heart leap. "Wake up, Ivy. Jeremie and Aelita think they have found him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was short! ... Or was it? Hehehehehe...


	8. In Which an Experiment is Conducted

The car ride took forever in Ivy's mind, even though in reality it was less than five minutes. She kept playing all sorts of different scenarios in her mind about what she wanted to say to Michael. She hoped and prayed that Michael wouldn't hate her for what she did. "Alright, everyone out." Yumi's voice snapped Ivy back to reality.

Ivy was the first out to leave the car and didn't bother to wait for the adults before she started running towards the factory. The girl swung down the chains at top speed, just barely keeping herself from crashing to the ground. She waited impatiently for the three adults to arrive at the elevator, tapping her foot nervously and just pacing around the elevator.

"Calm down Ivy, we'll make it," Yumi told her patiently.

One agonizingly slow elevator trip later, the doors opened to reveal Jeremie and Aelita huddled around a scanner. Jeremie still had the blanket wrapped tightly around him, and was leaning slightly on Aelita for support, but his expression was grimly pleased. Aelita turned and looked at the group, smiling. "You guys arrived just in time. He should be materializing any time now."

The scanner hummed loudly. Ivy held her breath. The noise gradually died away and stopped completely, and the doors opened. A boy with wavy dark brown hair in a navy sweatshirt was curled at the bottom in a tight little ball.

Ivy ran over and squeezed herself between Jeremie and Aelita to try and get a better view. Seeing Michael on the ground, she gasped and tried to kneel down to see if he was alright, but Aelita placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "Hang on Ivy," she muttered quietly to her.

Minutes passed quietly as the group watched Michael intently waiting for any sign of movement from him. After about two tense minutes, Ulrich bent down and cupped a hand over Michael's mouth. "It's okay," he announced. "He's just sleeping." A collective sigh of relief seemed to go through the room. "I'll carry him," Ulrich added, bending down and picking up his limp body. Ivy was amazed at the ease with which Ulrich lifted Michael. 'Then again,' she reminded herself, 'he does teach martial arts for a living.'

"We should take him back to the school," Jeremie suggested, looking at the sleeping student.

"Actually, I don't think that's such a good idea," replied Yumi. "After all, it's five-thirty in the morning. I think that there would be some questions raised, especially when one of them has a roommate. No, the kids can stay with us for a few more hours. Ivy needs rest."

"I don't think we should talk about her like she's not in the room with us," Ulrich pointed out quietly, turning to Ivy. "It's up to you."

"I agree. Lucas is already prying into things. He texted me asking where we were. I think if we returned it would arouse the wrong ideas. I think the safest method is staying at Yumi's," Ivy said thinking out loud, then looked to the adults to see their reaction.

Yumi nodded. "All right. Come along, you two. By the way, Jeremie? You're not allowed to stay here working."

Jeremie opened his mouth to protest. "Absolutely not," Yumi added sternly, cutting him off. "You need rest, Jeremie. Aelita, I'm counting on you to ensure that he goes home and gets some sleep."

"Don't worry," Aelita assured her, taking Jeremie's hand. "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

Ivy was sleeping slightly uncomfortable on the couch after suggesting that Michael sleep in the bedroom instead. After tossing and turning a few times, she slowly opened her eyes and sat up slowly stretching and waking herself up more. Once she was awake enough, she got up and walked to the bedroom and slowly opened it to see if Michael was awake. Unfortunately, Michael did not show any sign of waking. His pale blue eyes were closed under lids half-hidden by his wavy hair. As if sensing that she was there, his eyes flickered and he shifted a little. Ivy perked up a bit, hopeful that this was a sign that he was waking up and waited. He did not stir again.

A few quiet minutes passed before Yumi came in to check on Michael. She stopped short, apparently surprised to find Ivy there, then smiled gently at her. "Ivy. You're up. Do you want some breakfast?"

"No, I'm fine," she lied, wanting to wait for Michael to wake up before getting something to eat.

"Jeremie called a little bit ago," Yumi told her. "He said that he's explained both of your absences, and that they're expecting you back at the school some time later today."

"Okay, thanks," Ivy responded distractedly, not really looking at Yumi.

"We'll drive you back in a little while," Yumi added, a touch of concern in her tone. "Are you sure that you don't want anything to eat?"

"I'm fine, Yumi. I just want to make sure Michael is as well."

"I'm sure that he's fine," assured Yumi. "He's just exhausted, and with good reason, too."

"I know, but I feel responsible for this all and I just want to make sure he's alright." Ivy sighed sadly, staring at Michael.

"He'll be fine," repeated Yumi patiently.

"I wish you luck waking him up, though," came a voice from the doorway. "I tried a while ago. No go." Ulrich slouched in, looking only half-awake, and busied himself making another packet of Yumi's terrible instant coffee. He gave a hiss of pain as he burned his thumb on the hot water from Yumi's electric kettle.

Yumi marched over, taking Ulrich's arm and gently but firmly dragged him over to one of the chairs, forcing him to sit down. Ulrich offered no resistance. "No heavy machinery for you," Yumi chided as she finished the coffee. "Or hot water, apparently."

"Thanks," Ulrich mumbled just staring at the cup of 'coffee' in front of him waiting for it to cool down a bit before taking a drink of it.

"We were just talking about how we're going to get back to the school," Yumi informed. "Which might be a bad idea, with Michael still asleep."

"Probably... right," Ulrich agreed with another yawn. "But Jeremie said that they're expecting them back soon."

"If we can get him to the infirmary without anyone seeing him then it should be fine," Ivy suggested turning to look at Ulrich.

"Why the infirmary?" Yumi asked her. "There's nothing wrong with him, right? He's just asleep."

"If we take him to his room Lucas will try to wake him up or question me about why he's sleeping," Ivy explained to Yumi.

"But wouldn't the school nurse do the same thing?" Ulrich asked.

"True…" Ivy conceded with a sigh. "Can't you guys come up with a story?"

"Like what?" Ulrich rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm. "All I'm saying is, if the school nurse kicks up a fuss, we will have ambulances and police and all sorts of messes that I don't even want to think about. I don't know this Lucas kid, but it seems to me that a teenager would be easier to convince not to tell anyone then an adult."

"You're right... But maybe he'll ask more questions and we might have to tell him everything," Ivy said thinking as she looked at Michael. After a few minutes she sighed. "But I guess I'll need to come up with a good story then,"

"I'm sure you'll be able to think of something. Besides, it's the middle of the morning. He'll probably be in class.." Ulrich stood, ready to pick Michael up like he had the night before, but stumbled.

"I already called Odd," Yumi said quickly, guiding him back to the chair. As if arriving on cue, the doorbell rang. "We can handle it, Ulrich. You're still not really awake."

Ulrich looked dissatisfied, but saw the logic in her words. He sat back down and took a long drink of his coffee and made a face. "Alright, next time I go shopping, I'm getting you better coffee. I don't know how you can drink this…" he promised her, setting the cup down again.

"I don't," Yumi pointed out lightly while she walked to the door and opened it. "Good morning Odd," she greeted stepping aside to let him in.

"Morning Yumi!" Odd greeted stepping in. He managed to be remarkably cheerful for someone who was running on a maximum of three hours' sleep, Ivy noted. "So, everyone ready to go back to school?"

"Yup, just help me carry Michael," Yumi explained, leading him to the bedroom and grabbing his legs.

"What, he's _still_ out?" Odd shook his head, but followed her, and picked up Michael's torso. "Sure you get the lighter end," he grumbled to himself as they headed for the door. Ivy stepped back to give them room. Ulrich stood off to one side, leaning against the wall and rubbing his temples. Ivy cast him a glance.

"What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "Everything okay?"

"Just wondering if you were okay, that's all," replied Ivy honestly.

"I'm fine," Ulrich said with a reassuring smile. "Just tired. And this coffee is no help at all." He nodded at the pair lugging Michael's body into the car. "You should go out and join them."

The car ride lasted a little longer than the trip to the factory. When the car slowed to a stop outside of Kadic Academy, Yumi stepped out of the vehicle. "Principal Delmas knows that we're coming, but she said that it's okay if you guys don't check in with her until later," she told Ivy as she opened up the car door to pull Michael out. "Which is good, because it will give Michael some more time to wake up."

Ivy nodded her understanding getting out of the car and leading the way guiding Yumi and Odd who were carrying the still sleeping Michael. She walked ahead of them to make sure that no one was around and waved them forward whenever the coast was clear. Slowly, awkwardly, the two of them managed the two flights of stairs up to the boy's dorm. They had to stop a few times because Yumi was having a hard time holding on to Michael, and everyone was relieved when they reached the third floor. "So... which one is his room?" Yumi asked Ivy, sounding a little winded.

"This one," Ivy said, pushing the door open to reveal Michael and Lucas' room.

To her surprise and frustration, the room was not empty. Lucas was laying on his bed, tossing a ball from hand to hand. He sat up as the door opened. "Ivy!" he exclaimed. His dark brown eyes shifted to the people behind her, and to Michael's limp form. Ivy expected him to ask questions, but all he said was "Get inside."

Perplexed, the group did as he asked, shuffling their way awkwardly inside. "Put him down over there," Lucas instructed, pointing at the bed on the left side of the room. "That one's his." Yumi and Odd set Michael down on the rumpled, unmade sheets.

A brief, tense silence stretched. Lucas broke it at last. "This is the part where we introduce ourselves," he prompted. "I'm Lucas, the roommate. You two who just carried my friend's unconscious body in are...?"

Ivy expected them not to answer. However, when Odd opened his big mouth she realized that she probably should have seen that coming. "Odd Della Robbia," he responded. "And this," Odd indicated Yumi, "is Yumi Ishiyama." Yumi crossed her arms.

"Great.." His smile seemed genuine, but his tone told a different story. "Now that we're all introduced, do you mind telling my why Michael is in his current state?"

"Uuuhmmmm… Yumi, why don't you explain?" Odd flashed a smile he obviously felt was charming.

Yumi shot Odd a murderous glance, then looked back at Lucas. For a moment, Ivy really believed she was about to weave some fantastic story. Then Yumi put a hand to her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "He's... not unconscious. He's just sleeping," was all the woman managed.

"Oh? Really?" It was the other way around this time. Lucas' voice seemed light, but his face was stony. "Well, I guess that's okay then. I'll just accept the fact that my roommate disappeared for more than a day and came back unc - oh, sorry. Asleep." Lucas shrugged. "Thanks for filling me in, Odd and Yumi. Goodbye now." He looked meaningfully at each of them, then at the door.

'Oh, god," Ivy thought. 'That's it. We're done. He's going to tell the principal for sure.' She looked around, waiting for Yumi or Odd to come to her rescue. They did not. What excuse could they really make, anyway? Ivy just followed them as they filed out of the door.

"Hang on a moment." A long-fingered hand snaked out and grabbed Ivy's wrist with gentle pressure. "I didn't mention you, did I?"

Ivy groaned out loud. If anything, this was worse. ""What, Lucas?" she asked.

Lucas' pale eyebrows rose. "I did promise you that I would demand more of an explanation, did I not?" he asked, closing the door behind the other two. "There's no way you're getting off with just that."

Internally, Ivy cursed, her mind racing but finding no good solutions. Lucas waited a few moments for a reply. When none was forthcoming, he sighed. "C'mere." He pulled up a chair for her, then sat down on his bed, crossing his legs and looking at her intently. "Let's start with a simple question, shall we? How long has he been like that?" He gestured to Michael, who had begun to snore softly.

Ivy looked at Lucas as she sat down "About three hours. Perhaps a little longer."

"Three hours," Lucas repeated thoughtfully. "Well, that's not as worrying as it might be. I know that Michael can be a heavy sleeper, too. However, I would assume that you guys did all you could to try to wake him, because bringing him back like this inevitably causes questions. Am I correct?"

"Yes, we did try to wake him up," Ivy said, her annoyance growing.

"And there's only so much that even you could sleep through," Lucas said, addressing his roommate this time. "Anyway, that means that there's an underlying problem, and judging by how nervous you are, you know it." Lucas ran both hands through his hair and took a deep breath. "Okay, look. I'm just going to ask. Is he on drugs?" He pointed to Michael's unconscious form. "Are you on drugs?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Ivy exclaimed. "You honestly think I would do something that stupid?"

"I wouldn't have thought so, no. But honestly, I don't know you that well, and you and Michael have been disappearing together a lot and now… this. I just want to know if I should be getting him to the hospital. What happened to him, Ivy?" Lucas' tone was almost pleading.

Again, Ivy struggled for something to say, and for a brief moment she entertained the notion of just telling him the truth. Sensing that she was close to breaking, Lucas leaned forward. "Ivy, I'm just worried about my friend," he told her in a low voice. "If you don't want me to tell anyone else, that's fine. I just need to know what is going on."

In her mind's eye, Ivy flashed back to the moment that Michael had fallen over the edge. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

"Ivy? Are you alright?" Lucas sounded concerned now. Ivy did not emerge from her hands.

The moment in which she might have told him had passed. Lucas sighed again and stood up. "Fine. But if you're lying about him being on drugs and I find out..."

"We're not on drugs," Ivy snapped, dropping her hands to glare at him, only to find that he was no longer paying attention. The blonde boy was kneeling next to the drawer attached to his bed, rummaging around in it.

At last, Lucas emerged holding what appeared to be a very old campaign button "Found it," he muttered aloud. "My dad loves to collect these,"he added in explanation to Ivy. "I found this about a month ago in an antique store and I keep forgetting to mail it to him." He unhooked the pin in the back so that the sharp end was out and stood up, moving toward Michael.

Ivy made the connection of what Lucas was intending to do and automatically took a step toward Lucas to stop him. "Lucas! You're not going-!?"

"Oh, relax." Lucas waved a hand dismissively. "I just need to see if he's responsive to pain. I won't break his skin. And even if I do by accident, what's going to happen? It's not like he'll die of a Staph infection." He waited a moment to see if she would attempt to stop him. When she did not, he moved forward. "Hey. Michael. Buddy. You gotta wake up now, see?" Lucas prodded Michael's hand with the pin. Nothing happened. He tried again, harder this time. This time, when he drew away, a tiny pinprick of blood was left behind. Still nothing. Lucas looked back at Ivy. His face, which was so often lit with amusement, was pale and serious. "We've got a problem."

"Um, how so?" she asked worried as she looked at Michael then at Lucas.

"Well, the fact that he's unresponsive to pain does not bode well," Lucas commented. "I can't be sure yet..." He grabbed one of Michael's long-sleeved arms. "Help me pick him up, will you?"

"Why? Where are we taking him?" she asked walking over to Michael's side to wrap her arms around Michael's jeans.

"To splash him with some cold water," was all that Lucas said, hoisting Michael's arm over his shoulder and struggling under his weight. Michael's head lolled like a ragdoll, and he mumbled something in his sleep, in which the only distinguishable word was "don't". Lucas, with the assistance of Ivy, half-carried, half-dragged him down the hall. He did a quick scan of the surroundings. "There's usually no one in there at this time," he told Ivy. "Come on." He stopped in front of the bathroom on this floor and pushed the door open.

Ivy stopped moving seeing that Lucas intended to fully go into the bathroom. "Oh no, I'm not going in there Lucas," she protested, looking at Lucas and then into the boy's bathroom.

"Ivy." He gave her an exasperated look. "It's either that or I drag him all over the floor of a boys bathroom. And then he really will catch something and die."

Ivy sighed reluctantly and continued to carry Michael inside the bathroom, keeping her eyes completely focused on him the whole time and trying not to see what was inside.

Lucas guided them toward one of the showers. He sat Michael up against the wall, having the good sense after a moment of thought to pull the navy blue sweatshirt off, as it would likely become a giant sponge. This left Michael in his grey undershirt, slumped against the wall and showing no more signs of waking than he had the moment he came out of the scanner. By now, Ivy was starting to worry, and as Lucas turned on the water she prayed that this would rouse the boy.

Lucas jumped back a second later to avoid the torrent of freezing-cold water. They only kept it on for a few minutes, and while Michael did turn his head in protest, he did not wake. Lucas turned off the water, looking grave. "This is bad, Ivy," he said. "I'd think that he was in a coma or something if he didn't keep moving." As if to prove Lucas' point, Michael shifted and slowly began to slide down the wall.

Ivy looked at Lucas and then at Michael worriedly. She chewed on her lip for a few moments, debating internally. At last, she sighed heavily and dug out her phone in her pocket and started dialing Jeremie's number.

Lucas looked at her strangely. "Who are you calling? The police?"

"No. A friend," Ivy said as she waited for Jeremie to pick up.

"Oh, that's helpful," Lucas commented dryly. Ivy just gave Lucas a look before focusing on the phone as the call went through.

Before Ivy could say anything, Jeremie immediately started the conversation. "Ivy! Thank goodness. Are you still with Yumi and Odd?"

All at once, Ivy thought better of talking where Lucas could here. She stepped out of the bathroom, leaving Lucas and the still-dripping Michael inside so that she could talk to Jeremie in relative privacy. "No, I'm at Kadic," she answered, careful not to speak too loudly just in case. "Michael's not waking up. I think something is wrong."

Either Jeremie did not hear this new fact or he ignored it. "Ivy, I need you to find out if they're still on-campus," he told her. "If they are, don't let them leave. Something weird is going on. Ulrich called me awhile back to say that he wasn't feeling well, and now he won't pick up."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Jeremie?" she asked, starting off at a half-jog down the hallway.

"I mean, I've called him a dozen times. No response, nothing. And he wasn't making a whole lot of sense before then, either." Ivy was halfway down the stairs, trying both to focus on Jeremie's words and take the stairs quickly at the same time. "If Michael's not waking up, I don't think that could possibly be a coincidence."

Ivy was on the school grounds now, running all out though she had little hope that Odd and Yumi would still be there. As it turned out, they were, but not in the way that she had hoped. Whatever Ivy had been meaning to say to Jeremie died in her throat as she took in the road beyond the gate and stopped short. Her green eyes took in the crowd that had begun to accumulate that had run into the lamp post at full speed. Yumi's car. "Oh my god," Ivy breathed.

"Ivy? Ivy, tell me what's happening," Jeremie said.

"An accident. They're been in an accident," Ivy answered numbly. She noticed the group was split into two, the second milling around something that she could not see on the ground. A flash of purple and red was all she needed to put together pieces. "He wasn't buckled in yet… Oh my god…" All at once, Ivy found herself running, sprinting toward the accident at full speed. She was not sure what she was going to do, all she knew was that she had to help somehow, these were her friends, she needed to get to them…

"Ivy, stop." Jeremie's voice, commanding and cold in her ear, brought Ivy to a halt. "Do not go to them."

"Jeremie, they're hurt -" Ivy began, tears choking her voice.

"I know," Jeremie said. There was a hint of honest pain in his voice, but it was mostly determination. The same determination that Ivy had seen from him so far when it came to Lyoko, and it was only now that she began to understand it. "But you can't get involved in that. This is XANA, this is real. We're going to need your help."

"But…" Ivy began again. Again, Jeremie cut her off.

"They're going to be fine. They alive, or else…" Jeremie hesitated, then just repeated, "They're alive."

Ivy was an A-student, and it did not take a genius to connect the dots. She knew exactly what he had meant to say. 'They're alive, or else we can't help them anyway,' she thought almost dreamily. She seemed to have entered a world in which things did not seem quite real.

"You need to get to the factory," continued Jeremie. "Aelita and I are on our way. I need you and Michael here as soon as possible."

This brought Ivy back to reality slightly. "Michael?" she echoed, confused. "He's unconscious. Why would you need him?"

Again, Jeremie hesitated, and then he confessed. "I can put something into his programming to help track him a little more easily, give us a better chance of finding him. I'm sorry, Ivy, but when I do a return to the past, everything is going to go back to how it was before. I have to send Michael back to the digital sea."


	9. In Which Risks Are Taken

"You can't!" The words tore from Ivy's lips before she could stop them. She was not sure when she had started to shake, but could not stop. It was all she could do to hold the phone steadily to her ear. The girl closed her eyes and took great gulps of air to try to focus.

"I have to. Ivy, I'm sorry." To Jeremie's credit, he did seem honestly regretful. However, this was of little comfort to Ivy. The feeling of unreality had returned. Yumi and Odd's lives for Michael's safety. An impossible choice.

"I… can't, Jeremie…" Ivy recognized that she was speaking, but her voice seemed to come from far away.

"You have to," he replied at once.

"No, I mean, I can't." Ivy shook her head, trying to clear it. "I physically can't. He's too heavy for me to carry. Besides, Lucas is… asking questions. He's not going to just let me take Michael." At the thought of Lucas, Ivy remembered that she had left Michael in the bathroom with him. She paused, torn between the accident and her task to bring Michael to the factory. Ultimately, Jeremie's order won out. The girl turned and started to jog back toward the school.

"Bring him too, if you have to," instructed Jeremie.

"But -" Ivy began to protest.

Jeremie cut her off again. "He'll forget," he said simply. "When we do a return to the past, this will all be erased."

Ivy sighed. Any last hopes she had of avoiding a return trip were dashed. She took the stairs two at a time. "Fine," the girl told Jeremie. "We'll be there as soon as we can be."

She was half-surprised to find that Lucas had waited for her. He had taken the time in her absence to pull Michael's sweatshirt back over him, which struck Ivy as an odd thing to do until she realized that Michael was shivering as he slept. Lucas looked around as Ivy returned, his expression guarded. "Welcome back," he said in that same deceptively light tone that he had used with Odd and Yumi. "You're just in time for the part where I call the hospital."

Ivy bit her lip. "Lucas, you can't."

"I can, actually. Got a phone, got an unconscious friend, put them together and you get the logical thing to do." He pulled out his phone as though to demonstrate.

She wanted to come up with some clever lie to make him believe her. But Ivy had never been a very good liar when put on the spot. "They won't be able to help him," she said firmly. "The only way to help him is for him to come with me."

Lucas raised his pale eyebrows at her. "Oh? What makes you so sure?"

"Because… Because I know what's wrong with him." The words fell from her mouth before she could stop them. This comment seemed to surprise Lucas enough for his falsely-light demeanor to falter for a moment. He opened his mouth. "It's not drugs," Ivy added, correctly predicting his next question and casting him an exasperated look despite her anxiety. "But it is serious. He could die if you don't help me. And.. and other people could, too."

"It seems rather far-fetched," Lucas pointed out.

"It is," she agreed. "But if you come with me, I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Lucas stood and took a few steps toward her, his brows knitted together in a frown as he studied her expression to the point where Ivy started to feel uncomfortable. "Why should I trust you?" he asked at last. It was not an accusation, but a honest question.

Ivy took a deep breath, meeting Lucas' dark brown gaze. "I want to keep him safe, too, Lucas…" she replied quietly. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt him. I just know this is the only way to help."

He stared at her for a moment more, then closed his eyes and gave a curt nod. "Give me a hand," Lucas said, turning his back on her quite abruptly. "I think I can probably carry him on my back, but I'll need your help to pick him up."

* * *

Negotiating their way into the sewers without dropping him was more challenging than Ivy had anticipated. Three aborted attempts later, Ivy had been forced to call Jeremie and ask him for an alternative route. Their redirection through the tunnel in the boiler room proved much more fruitful, though Ivy was painfully aware of every passing moment. The girl kept picturing the car accident over and over, and it took a lot of effort to keep herself moving forward rather than dwelling on it.

Lucas proved, as usual, to be challenging. In spite of her promise to tell him everything, Ivy found herself walking a fine line between giving Lucas enough information to keep him from stopping and withholding enough so that he did not decide she was totally nuts. Lucas' questions were uncomfortably shrewd, and by the time that they reached the factory she had already been forced to divulge more information than she was entirely comfortable with. To give Lucas credit, he did not slow or stop as she gave him some of her stranger or more evasive answers, merely listened and waited. Soon enough they were too preoccupied with trying to haul Michael's unconscious form out of the sewers to discuss much of anything beyond labored instructions to one another.

But aside from the fear for her mentors and Lucas' questions, another suspicion was growing slowly and steadily inside of her. Ivy could not quite place her finger on it, no matter how hard she tried. It was not until Lucas stumbled on the stairs, half dropping Michael and banging him against the wall in a manner which would surely leave a nasty bruise that Ivy realized what it was. Michael had stopped moving. Fighting the urge to panic, she instead admonished Lucas for his carelessness.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Lucas muttered. "I… I think you're going to have to help me carry him the rest of the way down. My head's gone a bit fuzzy."

Ivy agreed at once, and while this proved somewhat slower than Lucas carrying him by himself, the two of them communicated well together and made good progress. The fact that the two of them made it to the lab in a little over twenty minutes was nothing short of miraculous.

Aelita turned to them as they entered, clearly emerging from a discussion. Jeremie gave them a tight sort of smile. Aelita did not smile at all. "Ivy. We were just discussing if I should go without you or wait."

"I'm glad you waited," Ivy said, which was the truth. She wanted Michael to have the best chance to come home as possible, and she was not sure if Odd and Yumi had a few hours to spare if Aelita was devirtualized.

"And you must be Lucas," Aelita added, looking over to the boy holding Michael's shoulders.

"Yes, I must be," Lucas agreed. "Can I please put him down now?" Jeremie nodded, and Lucas set Michael down heavily. Aelita moved over to examine Michael. "So, how exactly is our math teacher involved in all of this?" Lucas asked Ivy. Jeremie was the one who responded.

"Lucas," he said seriously. "A lot of this isn't going to make sense to you right now. We don't have a lot of time, but I want to make sure Ivy knows what's going on. Once she's gone, I'll be glad to answer your questions."

"But… where is she going?" Lucas bleated. 'Wow, he certainly missed the point of that one,' Ivy thought, shaking her head and turning her attention to Jeremie.

"Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich are all in the hospital," the man began bluntly. "Last I heard, Odd and Yumi were in surgery. They're both in critical condition. Ulrich is stable, but he's on a ventilator because his breathing was becoming weaker all the time. And we don't know if there will be a second stage."

"What? Why is this happening?" Ivy asked, bewildered.

"Michael," Jeremie said simply. " He was our Trojan Horse. A trap. XANA infected him with a virus to make us sleep."

The chill that went down Ivy's spine was helped not at all when Aelita turned around and reported, "It's okay, Jeremie. He's breathing."

Jeremie let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm going to say this as quickly as possible, because you need to go. When we were looking for Michael, we had to turn all the background programs off to dredge the digital void. We have two kinds of scans, one that goes through and checks each tower to see if it's active, and the SuperScan that goes off the moment a tower is activated on Lyoko. We turned the SuperScan back on, but there was already an active tower. We've found it now. We need you go get it. But that means that every moment that Michael was with us, he was spreading the virus. We need to go back to before we found him."

'If time is so of the essence, why are they stopping to explain?' Ivy wondered faintly. She almost asked this, but then answered her own question, and found she did not like the answer. They were preparing her in case one of the others died before she and Aelita could save them. They wanted her to understand. The knowledge settled like a weight upon her.

"This is the important question. Have either of you touched him?" Jeremie pointed to Michael. Ivy stared at him, nonplussed, because he had seen them carry Michael in. "Skin to skin contact," Jeremie added quickly. "As far as I can tell, that's how the virus is spread."

Ivy tried to remember. "A little bit, perhaps? I don't remember."

"Well, if you're not exhibiting symptoms, you should probably be okay when you go to Lyoko." The teacher gave a sigh of relief.

Lucas raised his hand slightly. "Uh, not to interrupt, but I touched him."

Jeremie gave a grimace. "When?"

"When we were getting him out of the shower, for one. We were trying to wake him up," Lucas added hastily, seeing the confused look on Jeremie and Aelita's faces. "And I carried him on my back most of the way here." He indicated the back of his neck, where Michael's head had been resting all the way over.

"When you start exhibiting symptoms, they'll come on fast. They did with Yumi," Jeremie cautioned.

"Well, I…" Lucas was saved the need to answer because he chose that moment to sway slightly and stumble, just as he had on the stairs.

"I see," Jeremie said seriously, nodding. "It's time to get moving, then. Do you think you can carry Michael a little bit further? I don't want to have Aelita or myself touch him… Just in case."

"That's fine," Lucas said. "Let's go."

Ivy picked up Michael's feet, murmuring to herself, "This is all my fault… If Michael and I hadn't fought, none of this would ever have happened…" Tears burned in her eyes again, blurring her vision.

"Ivy." Ivy looked up to find Lucas' dark eyes locked on her face. He was already holding Michael's shoulders, and he raised the boy slightly more to indicate that they should get moving. Ivy obeyed. She expected that that was the end of it, but as the elevator doors closed he continued to her in an undertone which she was certain Aelita could hear but had the grace to ignore. "I've lived with this guy for two years. I'm more than certain he wouldn't blame you for everything that's happening. And right now is not the time to lay blame, anyway. I don't understand much of this… but I am guessing from the way you're talking you can save us." He gave her a little smile. "I don't want to die." His voice wavered slightly on the last word, then came back strong as the elevator opened on the scanner room. "So come on. Let's get you where you need to go." A tiny bit of the pressure in Ivy's chest eased. She nodded gratefully.

Aelita helped guide the two students carrying Michael into the scanner room and directed them to prop him up inside one of the scanners. Relieved of his burden, Lucas gazed around the scanner room with a sense of awe and wonder and Ivy could tell that he wanted to ask a million questions. She actually wished for a moment that she could answer them, but even as he looked around his legs buckled slightly and he had to lean against a scanner for support. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and turned quickly away, not wanting to witness the boy collapse. "Hang in there. Lucas," she said, turning to face him at the last moment and giving him a smile. "We'll fix this as quick as we can. Thank you for all of your help."

A few moments later, Ivy fell to the Forest sector on her feet. "Good. Finally getting the hang of that," she muttered to herself, seeing Aelita land next to her and heard a thud on her left. She turned to see Michael's body laying on the ground facedown. This was unsurprising. What was surprising is that a moment later, the boy got to his feet. "Michael?!" Ivy rushed over.

He looked at her and his eyes were blank and devoid of emotion. "Sorry, I probably should have warned you," Jeremie told her. "That isn't Michael. He's still sleeping. I'm just manipulating his avatar's movements so that you don't have to carry him around."

"...Oh…" The disappointment that flooded through her quickly turned to frustration. "That's for the heads up," she said to Jeremie sarcastically.

"Sorry, Ivy. I'm a little bit busy," Jeremie responded distantly, though Ivy did believe that he was probably sorry for not warning her. "Here comes some vehicles to help speed things along," he added, the Overbike and the Overboard materializing before them. "It's easier for me to pilot the Overboard than Michael's movements, so I'm just going to have him lay down on it and move it around. Try not to lose it. My control over him is very limited, and he definitely will not be able to fight.

"Alright then, hopefully we won't encounter any monsters then," Ivy commented, pointing to Michael to get on the Overboard only to find that the boy's avatar had already fallen back on it with far more willingness than the waking one would have exhibited. "This is pretty weird, you know that Jeremie?" Ivy muttered under her breath as she snapped her staff into the attachment on the Overbike that Jeremie had made for her, and they sped away.

"I know it is, but we don't have time for you to have to carry his body all over the place," Jeremie explained sounding somewhat distracted. "By the way, you might want to hurry up. Lucas just passed out."

"Thanks for the update, Jeremie. Just keep an eye out for any monsters," Aelita responded. getting a running start before jumping into the air and spreading her wings taking off.

The way to the tower was oddly quiet. Jeremie gave the occasional update on Lucas, but no sign of monsters. As the red tower loomed into view, Ivy started wondering if this was too easy. This was clearly a thought that was shared by her companion. "Okay, XANA has to have some trick up his sleeve. There is no way that he wouldn't try to stop us deactivating the tower…" Aelita commented worriedly.

"Unless this tower is a trap, we just have to hope that XANA is still rusty and put all his focus on the attack and not the defens-Nevermind. Head's up, you two. XANA's sending four monsters your way from the north." Ivy groaned while she slowed down the Overbike and turned to see what XANA was throwing their way.

Ivy saw three little mosquito-like creatures fly towards them. And unlike the pale green pattern that she and Michael had been practicing with in previous sessions, these Hornets were the real deal. They sped towards her in a V shaped formation. Trailing behind them was a shiny four-legged creature with an elongated white head. Ivy had never seen one of these before, but she recognized it as a Tarantula based on the description Odd had given.

"Go on ahead and deactivate the tower. I'll deal with these insects," Ivy called to Aelita. Aelita hesitated, visibly torn as to whether she felt comfortable leaving Ivy alone to fight the monsters. At last, she nodded and winged away toward the tower. "Jeremie, you should hide Michael. If one of those Wasps gets away, I don't want it finding him." In answer, the Overboard sped away, carrying Michael's empty shell with it.

Satisfied that all distractions had been sufficiently eliminated, Ivy turned to face the oncoming swarm, gripping her staff and waiting for the right moment. 'There,' she thought to herself as the nearest Hornet moved just where she wanted it. Ivy swung the staff against the ground as hard as she could, sending vines climbing towards the middle hornet. It needed to be timed precisely, for as soon as the vines stopped growing their weight would bring them crashing to the ground. As it was, the thorns just clipped the wings on its left side, but it was enough. Unbalanced, the monster went spiraling crazily off and hit the ground with an explosion. The vines teetered, and fell, blocking the advance of the Tarantula by effectively sealing off the path. They wouldn't last forever, but for now - two birds, one stone.

The other two Hornets rose with ease out of the range of the vines and flew overhead, squirting at her with burning acid. Ivy leaped out of the way dodging the acid, but stumbled slightly on an uneven part of the platform and fell to her knees. She sent more vines at them blindly, trying to buy herself some more time to recover. If they had been Jeremie's Hornets, they might have been tangled in the vines. As it was, they were far too low, and the monsters dodged them with ease, then circled around her to spray a wide arc of acid around her. Ivy cursed, realizing how limited her movements would be with her own now-fallen thorns before her and the acid behind her and on either side. The Hornets had disappeared, and Ivy realized how much trouble she was in. In this sector, they had the advantage of being able to conceal themselves behind trees, while the ground offered her very little cover. And the Tarantula was leveling its cannons…

The girl did the only thing she could think of. She made a mad dash for the Overbike. The good news was that at this distance, impeded by the vines, the Tarantula was not a particularly good shot. The bad news was that the Overbike was stationary and if the Tarantula switched targets, Ivy was out of luck. All at once, Ivy was knocked off her feet again by a laser. A moment of confusion gave way to desperate scrambling. She was halfway to her feet when a second, more powerful laser from the Tarantula caught her in the side, sending her tumbling all over. Dazed, Ivy tried to put together. One of the Wasps must have shot her in the back to get her down. Where had it even come from? Desperately, Ivy lurched toward the Overbike, and managed to grab hold of it. The girl looked around for the Wasp, but it had gone.

Ivy's mind was still racing, trying desperately to put together a plan, but in that moment she found herself instead thinking of the very first training session she'd had with Michael, where the Krab had shot her in the back after she had rescued Michael, and he had returned the favor. What she wouldn't do to have him with her now. He would never have this problem with the Hornets. Dimly, Ivy recalled Yumi's admonishment to her that day, that she had lost track of her enemy, whereas Michael was simply too reckless…

Reckless. A sudden spark of an idea. Ivy looked out at the vines that were blocking the path of the Tarantula and tried to remember. She could not recall off the top of her head if she had ever had contact with her own vines, but she thought that she was immune to their poison… It would make sense, at any rate… These were not the circumstances under which she would have liked to test it. But if she waited too much longer, they would disappear and the Tarantula would be free to find and devirtualize Michael. Jeremie was quiet, probably programming the tracking program for Michael, but Ivy guessed that she was running very low on lifepoints. One more good hit would probably do it.

All of this took place in her head in the span of about five seconds, and she knew she could not waste a moment more. She swung her leg over the Overbike, snapping her staff in at lighting speed, and gunned the engine. Before the monsters could react, Ivy was off like a shot, barreling toward the vines - and the monster on the other side.  
The Tarantula opened fire. Ivy swung the Overbike back and forth, wearing a zig-zag motion to make herself a more difficult target to hit. She bit her lip as the Overbike hit the patch of vines. As she had anticipated, the vehicle started to dissolve immediately under her. Ivy centered the Overbike on the Tarantula and unsnapped her staff, leaning down to keep her body close to the rapidly-disappearing vehicle. "Breathe," Ulrich's voice in her memory spoke from their training session. Ivy breathed deep, her mind narrowing to a pinpoint of focus.

Thinking that Ivy meant to ram it with the Overbike, the Tarantula stopped its lasers and stood up, backing a pace or two away. "Too late," Ivy muttered, and the Overbike vanished completely. Ivy was ready when she hit the ground, crossing her arms and allowing herself to slide on the ground toward the Tarantula… under the Tarantula… She used her staff to stop herself just behind it. Figuring she had a few seconds at most before the Tarantula realized what had happened, Ivy hit the ground as hard as she could with her weapon, causing vines to bind the Tarantulas back legs tightly. Taking another deep breath to steady herself, Ivy reached out and grabbed a handful of the vines. What had been writhing like wild snakes a millisecond before went limp in her hands. Ivy took this as a good sign that she was not about to be poisoned. Now for the riskiest part of all.

Using her staff as a sort of pole-vault, Ivy launched herself up onto the back of the monster, leaving her weapon lying on the ground beside them. The back of the Tarantula was smoother than she had anticipated, and the girl slid slightly before she was able to loop the vines around the Tarantula's left leg/cannon. Tugging the vines hard to bring more of them with her, she quickly looped another around its neck. The Tarantula screeched its protest, but the vines were still growing. The Tarantula was hers. Taking another deep breath, Ivy hauled its left leg up, up, up to point at an angle toward the sky. The strain was monumental, and Ivy knew that she could not hold out for long.

Fortunately, the Wasp chose that moment to make its appearance. Ivy held her breath, tugging harder on the leg of the trapped and unsteady Tarantula, trying to goad the Tarantula. The beast beneath her shrieked again, and it began to fire wildly. And Ivy was a considerably better shot than the Tarantula. The Hornet that had been barrelling toward them exploded. It was all Ivy could do not to cheer out loud.

"Great work, Ivy," Jeremie's voice suddenly rang out. "I'm sorry that I haven't been much help, but everything is set up for Michael just as soon as Aelita reaches the tower."

"Okay," Ivy said distractedly, looking around wildly for her last remaining enemy. "Where's the -" The Tarantula had reached the end of its lifepoints. Ivy felt it go limp under her, and then the explosion knocked the girl all the way back to Earth.

The familiar wave of nausea and shakiness that Ivy had begun to associate with devirtualization hit her, and she stumbled slightly as she got out of the scanner. As Jeremie had told them, Lucas was slumped unconscious beside one of the scanners. Ivy moved over to him, speaking aloud as she did. "Jeremie, can you hear me? There's still one more Hornet out there. It could devirtualize Michael."

There was a very brief pause, then Jeremie's voice spoke from speakers above her. "It's okay, Ivy. Aelita took care of it. Tower deactivated."

Even as Jeremie spoke, Lucas stirred and took a deep breath, and coughed a few times. "Ugh," he muttered, putting a hand to his head as he sat up. "God, that… That is an experience I could do without repeating." He noticed Ivy and looked up at her seriously, still trying to catch his breath. "So that's it? Michael's okay? You're okay? I'm okay?"

Ivy could not help but laugh a little bit. "Everyone's okay," she assured him, sitting down across from him.

"What happens now?" Lucas inquired.

Ivy hesitated, but there was no point in being anything but completely truthful with Lucas at this point. "You forget," she replied simply. "At least, so I've been told."

"I somehow seriously doubt that I'm going to be forgetting this anytime soon," Lucas said, rubbing his chest.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. You will, though, I promise you that."

Lucas looked away from her, his expression thoughtful. "But you'll remember, right?" he asked at last.

She blinked, somewhat taken by surprise. "Yes, I will," she confirmed.

"Good." Lucas gave a firm nod. "I didn't lug Michael through the sewers just for everyone to forget about it."

Ivy laughed again, then quieted as she remembered that Michael would disappear again after this. She almost thought to tell Lucas about it, to ask him what she was supposed to do, but before she could seriously consider this, the world was enveloped in white...

… All of them stood in the lab, with the exception of Jeremie who sat in the chair. He had a blanket wrapped around him, and his eyes were bright with fever. Every so often the chills going through him would be enough that he had to stop typing for a moment, but as soon as they passed he would resume his work with a single-minded determination. It fell to everyone else to comfort the girl who had just lost her friend to the virtual sea.

Again.

* * *

The elevator doors closed to take the little group away. Jeremie stared at his computer screen once again. He had never until this moment realized how bad it would feel to be taken out of a body that had already healed and being placed back into the middle of a fever. It was going to be a long night. Again.

"You didn't tell Ivy the truth." Aelita's voice was not accusing, per se, but it was not gentle either.

"Not the whole truth," agreed Jeremie. "But you didn't either, Aelita, and I think for the same reasons. We have no evidence that our hunch is true, and I don't see a reason to crush her hopes on a hunch."

"Aside from what gave us the hunch in the first place," Aelita pointed out. "If a tower had been activated after we had located Michael to give him the virus, the SuperScan would have picked it up. That means that XANA got to him before we found him. That means XANA probably _let_ us find him."

"And XANA might find him again before we do. I know, Aelita. I know." The man pushed up his glasses and rubbed at his burning eyes. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do." A moment of silence fell. "I want to bring William back," he added.

Aelita stared at him with wide eyes. "What! We can't! William made it clear that he never wanted anything to do with Lyoko ever again. He's moved on with his life."

"He knows more about XANA possessions than any of us," Jeremie replied simply. "If Michael really has been taken, he might be able to offer valuable insight. It's not just that. Something about this last attack doesn't sit well with me. It was too… sophisticated." His girlfriend made a small noise of disagreement. "No, really," he said, shaking his head. "Think about it. This wasn't some huge attack meant to take out as many people as possible. This was meant for just us. It exploits the human need for comfort. If I had not been ill, there's a good chance that you and I would have gone with them too. It wouldn't take much, just a hug or passing a cup of coffee. We could all be dead."

Aelita was silent. "I see your logic," she agreed after a pause. "I do. But that doesn't sound like XANA."

"No, I guess you're right," Jeremie agreed with a sigh. "I'm tired and I'm sick, so maybe I'm not thinking clearly. I don't know. But I'm still messaging William in the morning if Michael is not found."


	10. In Which a Clone Is Created

Sunlight crept over Ivy's face as she slept. The first thing she was aware of was confusion. Her room faced west, and she slept with her feet toward the window, anyway. She opened her eyes to stare at an unfamiliar ceiling, and it took her a moment to remember that she was at Yumi's house, and that it must be morning. It took her another moment to remember why it was that this made her so sad. If it was morning, that meant that there had been no call during the night. Michael was still gone.

She sat up slowly from her position stretched out on the couch, more of last night's events returning to her slowly. When they had arrived at the apartment, Odd had declared firmly (and very loudly) that they were "not going through all that crap again". He had insisted that they all eat dinner, that all of them sit down together in the living room area, and, for reasons best known for himself, had stashed Yumi's kitchen clock in the linen closet under all of the towels. They had ordered cheap takeout, which Ivy ate, and turned on the TV with the volume up almost too loudly. If Odd had tried this this first time around, Ivy would have been irritated, perhaps even angry. This time she was grateful. Nothing could be worse than that night of cold silence again. Being here, surrounded by the three Lyoko Warriors, Ivy felt safer than she would have thought possible, given the circumstances. And she was infinitely thankful that all of them were still here.

The older Lyoko Warriors had surrendered the entire couch to Ivy to give her room to lie down. Ulrich and Yumi had curled up together on the futon, and Odd had stretched out on the floor, using the couch as a backrest. Ivy could not remember at what point she had fallen asleep, but it was before Yumi and Ulrich had folded down the futon to lie flat. Ulrich was still curled up on it, asleep. Odd was on the floor, snoring like a chainsaw, and the television was still on, though at some point the sound had been turned down so much that it was nearly on mute.

The door of the flat opening drew Ivy's attention, and she looked around to see Yumi walked back in, pocketing her cell phone. "Oh, Ivy, you're awake," she commented mildly, giving her a small smile. "Did you want any breakfast?"

"No, I'm not very hungry," Ivy replied honestly. "Any word from Jeremie?"

Yumi's smile faded and she heaved a sigh. "Yes, Ivy… I just got off the phone with him, actually."

Ivy knew the answer. She had known it from the second the morning light touched her face. She asked anyway. "And? What did he say?"

Yumi's lips thinned to a serious line. "That we have to go with plan B."

* * *

* * *

Michael's clone was identical to him in nearly every way. Same stocky build, same wavy ash brown hair, same solid nose and full lips. Perhaps he was just a shade too tall, his hair a little too long, his eyes ever so slightly a deeper shade of blue than Michael's own icy color. No one but Michael's own mother would ever have known the difference, and no one but Michael knew how unlikely of an occurrence that would ever be. Physically, he was Michael's doppelganger.

The inside was another matter.

The Lyoko warriors had encountered a problem that they had never foreseen. Unlike William all those years ago, Michael's absence could not be explained away by illness or sudden traveling, because he had a roommate who would miss him - and a particularly perceptive one, at that. This was also the reason that they could not just create one of their normal clones. Any "emerging qualities" would be spotted by Lucas in a moment, which would only lead to more questions. The solution that Jeremie devised was logical, if not particularly kind.

The clone was programmed with basic motor functions, to speak and understand French, how to recognize the six universal emotions, and with varying degrees of the five senses, depending on what was relevant at the time. It was also installed with some basics of social pleasantries, to avoid any uncomfortable situations. Above all it had two prime directives. One of these was to observe, which it did very well.

Light flooded from the scanner under its cheek. The clone uncurled itself and got to its feet. Stand. Wait. Take in surroundings. Two people stood in front of them. Jeremie and Aelita. Aelita was doing sadness. Jeremie was doing something else. It catalogued the expression for later.

"He looks about right," Jeremie said. "Nice work, Aelita."

"Thank you," Aelita replied, turning her back on both of them.

"Can you speak?" This was addressed to the clone.

It responded in Michael's husky tones. "Yes."

"Excellent." Jeremie nodded. "He should do just fine."

* * *

Odd and Ulrich came to take it away. Their expressions were quite blank and they were both very quiet, and spoke to Jeremie in clipped tones. They did not speak to the clone at all, except to tell it to get into the car. It did as it was asked. Sit. Wait.

After two minutes and thirty four seconds, Odd turned to Ulrich, and the blonde man was doing anger. "I don't like this," he stated. "I don't like this at all."

"I don't either." Judging from his tone, Ulrich was doing anger too. He gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles started to turn white. "But it's the best plan we've got, if we want to avoid questions. I just wish it wasn't, because I don't want to put her through this."

"Ivy's not going to be happy," Odd pointed out.

"I know." They drove in silence.

The car stopped about a block away from the school. Two people were waiting for them, leaning against a black car. One of them was a tall woman with short black hair. The other was a girl with wavy golden brown hair, a sprinkling of freckles on her cheeks, and emerald green eyes. The clone knew her at once, for she was at the center of its programming. As Ulrich and Odd let it out of the car, the clone did joy, fixing a smile on its face and extending a hand. "Ivy," it said.

Ivy did surprise, then a mild form of anger, turning to Ulrich and Odd. "This isn't going to work. He's all wrong."

And so they told her.

The clone before her was a learning clone. It had been programmed to learn from Ivy, and only from Ivy. Its instructions were to observe day to day life and how people reacted to it, and to report back to Ivy with its findings and various hypotheses about how it felt it needed to change its programming. However, it was not permitted to enact a change in behavior until Ivy had given permission.

Odd and Ulrich's prediction proved accurate, the clone noted, as it watched Ivy. The girl shook her head again and again. "I'm not doing this. You can't make me do this. Why couldn't one of you teach him?"

"Jeremie was concerned that if he had more than one person instructing him, he might start to generalize and receive instructions from other people," Ulrich explained. "I know this is really hard, Ivy, and I'm so sorry. You're the one who knows him best. Jeremie said it would be a week of instruction at the most, and then perhaps a few occasional questions. For the most part, once this week is over you can ignore him all you want. I promise."

Ivy eyed the clone, and it stared back at her, still smiling pleasantly. "Stop smiling like that," she said. The clone obeyed. Ivy looked back at Ulrich, fixing him with an intense stare. "One week. You promise?"

"Well, we're just going off what Jeremie said…" Odd mumbled.

"Then make sure it gets back to him," Ivy said, her eyes not moving from Ulrich's face. "One week. That's all I'm agreeing to."

"Okay." Ulrich nodded his agreement.

"Don't worry," interjected Yumi. "I'll hold Jeremie to it. We're already asking a lot of you."

"I know," Ivy said shortly, then gestured to the clone. "Come on, let's get going."

The clone moved over to walk beside her toward the school without looking back. "That's not how Michael walks," Ivy said after they had gone no more than five steps. "He drags his feet."

"I see," Michael's clone said, altering his gate so the sole of his shoe never left the ground, sliding along instead.

Ivy heaved a sigh. "This is going to be a long week."

* * *

That first day, the clone learned several things and the most important, according to Ivy, was that it was not to speak to her during school hours. Since the two of them were not expected back until late morning, Ivy brought the clone out to sit under a tree at the park and instructed it on a few basic things. The clone spent the next half hour mimicking her facial expressions. "It will be easiest if he's sulking," Ivy explained. "At least for now. It will explain why he's so quiet." When she was satisfied that the clone could mimic the expressions believably, Ivy switched topics. "Do you know what Lucas looks like?"

The clone considered this question. "He is tall and has pale blonde hair with brown eyes," it responded. "I have not seen a picture, however, and I will need you to point him out to me."

"Fine," Ivy said dismissively. "But I need you to know that he's very inquisitive. Don't answer any of his questions."

"I could not. even if I wished to," the clone pointed out mildly.

Ivy considered this. "Good point," she said, giving a small laugh. "That may be the best solution to dealing with Lucas I've ever heard." And they spent the next quarter of an hour practicing saying "Leave me alone" and other similar phrases in the appropriately sullen way.

* * *

That first day was when the clone met Lucas for the first time, as well. No matter what the clone did, looking back on it, it had the feeling that Lucas was never completely fooled. He certainly always seemed quite wary around the clone and several times the clone caught him watching it out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps it was the fact that the clone was only permitted to recycle a handful of phrases, like an action figure, or else just grunt and shrug. Perhaps it was the fact that the clone did not use any of Michael's usual mannerisms, and its facial expressions were not yet perfected. The clone thought it was the fact that it did not make Michael's bed when it came back.

Evening had fallen, and Lucas had not been in the room when Michael's clone arrived there. The clone would later learn that the boy had been receiving a lecture from Principal Delmas after Jim had found Lucas skipping class to stay in the room that day. After several attempts to gain information were rebuffed, Lucas surrendered and started in on his homework on his bed. Since the clone had not yet been instructed to do so, the program did not do the same, but sat down on the bed that belonged to Michael and took off its shoes. Lucas gave it a strange look. "What, you're breaking the habit?"

The clone was not permitted to inquire, so merely grunted and shrugged, hypothesizing that its lack of articulation would serve as an appropriate answer. Lucas shook his head disbelievingly. "Never thought I'd live to see the day you would sit on that bed without making it," he remarked. The clone just shrugged again and took the time to examine rest of Michael's spotless half of the room, making a mental note to bring it up with Ivy when it saw her for their next teaching session in the morning.

* * *

As promised, Michael's clone did see Ivy the next day, but only briefly. She was waiting for the clone when it arrived, shivering and looking quite glum. The clone allowed Michael's sullen expression to melt away from its face as it approached, taking in her appearance. "You are cold," it noted.

"It's cold," Ivy pointed out impatiently. "Look, I'm changing the plan a little bit. My training has been cancelled in the evenings."

"I see."

"They didn't even tell me why..." Ivy was doing anger again. She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I'm guessing it's because they want me to teach you. So, here is what you'll do. You come to my room tonight after dinner for a 'study session', okay? The sooner we can get this done, the better."

"I would be delighted," the clone said tonelessly, drawing from its knowledge of human pleasantries.

"Yeah, we have a lot of work to do," Ivy muttered under her breath as she trudged off.

* * *

The clone arrived precisely five minutes before its scheduled meeting with Ivy. The fact that Ivy was not inside her room when it came in did not bother it in the slightest. Instead, it gazed around the room, taking it in and mentally comparing it to Michael's. In contrast to Michael's Spartan room, with only a bare minimum of personal possessions and immaculately tidy, Ivy's was very different. She had a bookshelf, packed full with books and various knick-knacks. The wardrobe was half open, revealing an overflowing laundry hamper with a few articles of clothing spilling out onto the floor. Her bed was a tangle of sheets and blankets, not only the standard Kadic issue but a soft lime green blanket as well. The girl had also set up an additional lamp in the corner next to the unused desk, and various photographs of people standing with past versions of Ivy were on the walls. Her desk was littered with pens, papers, and small ceramic pots.

The clone moved over and picked up one of these, holding it up to eye level to examine the withered and brown plant it held. A leaf fell off even as Michael's doppelganger studied the sad little plant, drifting to join its many companions on Ivy's desk.

The door shut as Ivy walked back into the room, holding an armful of books from the library. The clone looked around but did not say anything until her eyes locked on him. The girl jumped and nearly dropped her books everywhere. "Don't do that!" she scolded when she had recovered herself, doing anger once more. It was all she seemed to do around him. The clone catalogued this information to ask Ivy to explain it to him,

"I apologize," it replied calmly. "I was under the impression that it was polite to be early."

"It's polite to wait outside if you are early and you're going somewhere you haven't been invited in," Ivy retorted, dumping her books unceremoniously on her bed and flopping down on it.

"I apologize," the clone reiterated. "I assumed that your permission was implicit." It paused, replacing the plant on the desk. "It is dying," it remarked.

"Yes," Ivy agreed. "They always die. Go sit," she added, pointing to the unused bed. "We can get started."

* * *

The third day was interrupted halfway through by a call from Jeremie midway through science. Ivy's hand was in the air in an instant, asking to go to the infirmary. As it had been instructed to do, Michael's clone raised its hand a moment later to volunteer to take her. They met outside for only the briefest of moments before both turned to head in opposite directions.

As Ivy raced toward the factory, the clone went to the dorms. It had been agreed upon that if the attack were to come during the daytime that the clone would hide out in the dorms, where it would have the least chance of encountering another student and potentially hurting them, should its code become corrupted by XANA. The clone recognized that this was a flimsy defense, but it was the best one that they could devise. The clone locked the door and barricaded it with the chairs and desks and mattresses. This would only provide perhaps ten seconds of extra protection, but it was possible that those ten seconds could be crucial. Having no other ideas for how to further protect the world from itself, the clone took the time to search all the drawers of the room and glean what it could from the contents. This served to fill all of ten minutes. Left with nothing to do, the clone sat on the floor, turning Michael's paperback science fiction book that it had uncovered over and over in its hands. It waited for Ivy to return, and it wondered what it would be like if XANA tried to possess it.

Half an hour later, there was a quiet knock on the door, and it heard Ivy murmur "It's me". As predicted, it took the program perhaps forty-five seconds to remove the barriers, and that was because it was being careful not to damage anything. "Ivy," Michael's clone greeted her, and did joy for her. "You have returned. Is all well?"

"It was another false alarm," she answered, lingering outside the door instead of coming inside. "We had just arrived at the tower when it deactivated itself."

The clone studied her and its smile diminished. "You are…" The clone did its best to imitate her expression and body language. "... doing anger," it finished, though it knew that this was not the right word.

Ivy did surprise, then frowned at the clone. "Doing anger?" she echoed. "I'm not angry, I'm… anxious, I suppose, because we just had a XANA attack that lead nowhere. But that's not really something that you do, you just… are."

"You… are anger?" the clone asked, confused.

"Close enough."

"But… how do you do that?" Michael's doppelganger did not understand. "Am I anger when I make the face like Michael?"

"No." The girl shook her head. "You… well, _we_.. feel it. It's not just a facial expression it's a mood, it's a physical change in the body's chemistry… We really should get back to class, alright? I'll try to explain more to you later."

The clone obeyed, and to Ivy's credit she really did try to explain her comments further that evening. However, try as it might, the clone could not bring itself to summon what Ivy had described. It suspected that Jeremie simply had left that part out of the program. That night as it lay in the state that it used to imitate sleep, sorting the many stimuli of the day and processing them according to their importance, the clone considered Ivy's words again. It decided that the sensation when Ivy had come to tell him that the threat had passed was as close as he had come to being something. The notion that everyone was safe and that the clone would not suddenly lose control and attack someone… Perhaps this was what it was like to _be_ joy.

* * *

"Lucas has instructed me to bathe," Michael's clone informed Ivy on the evening of the fourth day.

The girl, who had been puzzling over a math problem, paused. "I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"Lucas has instructed me to bathe," the clone repeated. "He said…" The clone slipped into an uncanny imitation of Lucas' voice. "'Look, I don't know what's going on with you, but you have to take a shower. That's just common courtesy. I have to live with you, and this room is tiny.' Lucas, of course, is unaware that I lack sweat glands," the clone finished in its own voice.

"You haven't been… of course you haven't been, I didn't tell you to." Ivy groaned and shook her head. "Well, you should shower at least once a day. I don't know if Michael showers in the morning or the evening, but pick one and do that. You should definitely shower tonight and make sure Lucas knows it."

"I will," agreed the clone. "How shall I do that?"

Ivy did, no, she _was_ surprised. Her mouth hung open as she stared at the clone. At last she shut it, closing her math book loudly. "No," she said simply. "No. I am drawing the line."

"Okay," the clone said. "Where?"

* * *

"He doesn't know how to _shower_ , Jeremie?" Ivy demanded fifteen minutes later at the factory. The clone stood in the back of the room and observed as Ivy turned her rage on Jeremie.

The man took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "I must have overlooked it in the initial programming. I had quite a lot to do, you know."

"Yeah, well, now you need to fix him," Ivy snarled.

"Ivy." Jeremie's voice was colored by an emotion that Ivy had taught the clone meant impatience or irritation. "I have to go through every line of the SuperScan to ensure that these repeated false alarms are not being caused by a bug of some kind, I'm still looking for Michael, and now I have to deal with William too."

"William?" Ivy asked, momentarily derailed.

"Nothing," Jeremie said quickly. "Just an old friend. He was supposed to be here yesterday morning but now none of us can contact him. We think he may be on the run from us. Anyway, the point is that I have quite enough on my plate."

"You're going to do one more," Ivy stated firmly, narrowing her eyes. "Or else you're going to erase him and make a new one."

Jeremie sighed and hit a few buttons on the keyboard to change screens. "Fine," he groused. "You two head back to campus. I can access the code here, and the moment I change this code, he should change too. Satisfied?"

Ivy nodded, then gestured to the clone. "Come on. We are leaving." As always, the clone followed obediently.

* * *

With showering resolved and five days of a dutiful student and excellent teacher, the clone had progressed rapidly. It had mastered Michael's facial expressions, his walk, some of his mannerisms, and some of his speech patterns. It was enough to call into question the sanity of the person that challenged the clone, at the very least. However, there were still a few final touches that needed to be addressed.

"You sit too still," Ivy stated, frowning at the clone in what it had learned was a thoughtful manner. "Michael fidgets pretty much constantly."

"How so?" the clone asked.

"I don't know." Ivy let out a huff of breath, chewing on her lip. "Like… If he has a pencil he'll tap it. He might pick at the edge of his piece of paper. Shift his weight back and forth between his feet. Kick the dirt."

So she went on, listing off a long string of things that Michael might do. When she had finished, the clone looked at her expectantly. "Is that all?" it inquired.

"I mean, all I can think of. Let's see you do them before I decide that's the whole list."

"Alright," the clone agreed amicably. "Like this?"

And it did them all at once.

Ivy's laughter was cut short as she clapped a hand over her mouth, and try as Michael's clone might, it could not get Ivy to say more than a few words to it for the rest of the night.

* * *

Pretending to be Michael was not hard. Ivy was a good teacher, and the clone knew its role well. If it had been acting a little strangely at first, any tension had long since been smoothed away. Even Lucas had stopped watching Michael's clone quite so closely. Michael's clone was satisfied, in its own way, that they were doing their job well. Even so, it still appreciated not having to put on this act around Ivy. Ivy, who would help the world make sense, since it was not allowed to make any decisions on its own. After tonight, it would not speak to her again except in instances of the most dire emergency.

The thought was clearly on Ivy's mind as well. As she finished her last set of instructions to him, she sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Well, that's it," she announced. "I don't think there's anything else I really know to teach you. Honestly, I guess I knew more about him than I thought that I did…" This thought seemed to be troubling to Ivy for some reason. The clone did not know why, but it was not in its parameters to ask. Only about Michael and itself, unless it was phrased as a statement rather than a question. It was just about to compose this when Ivy shook her head and closed her eyes. "Now things can go back to the way that they were before."

The clone considered this comment. "How were things before?"

Ivy shrugged slightly. "He ignored me, I ignored him. Everyone was happy."

"I was under the impression that you two were friends," the clone stated carefully.

Ivy's eyes opened, and she blinked a few times in rapid succession. "So was I," she said quietly. "At least until…"

"Until," the clone echoed, still not phrasing it as a question, but it had been programmed with a natural curiosity and a desire to make sense of a situation.

Ivy shook her head. "I can't talk about this. Not with you. Not with you looking…" She gestured to him, then looked away. Silence fell, and the clone hypothesized that this would be the end of the conversation until Ivy began to speak again in a soft, shaky voice. "I think he hates me," she said softly. "I don't know why. I thought he liked me, but… he said some things about me and I got angry and... " She sniffled. "If he didn't hate me before, I bet he does now. It's my fault that he's lost."

"It is?" The clone raised its eyebrows in the perfect picture of surprise, the appropriate reaction to previously unknown information.

Ivy nodded weakly, still not looking at the clone. "He f-fell…"

"You pushed him."

"What?" This seemed to snap Ivy out of her trance, and she looked back at Michael's clone. "No, of course I didn't. I just yelled at him."

"But it's your fault?" Confusion now. The picture was unclear.

"I scared him. It's hard to explain." Ivy shook her head again, and her expression was doing something else, something too complex for the clone to understand. It did not ask for clarification. "The point is, he fell, it's my fault, and… and everyone just keeps telling me not to feel bad about it." Anger crept into her voice now. "Everyone keeps saying that it's not my fault, there's nothing I could have done, blah blah blah… It's like they're all _lying_ to me, or they're all _pretending_ that it's true. I know they're just trying to make me feel better, but it's just…" Ivy made a gesture of frustration and fell silent.

The clone looked at her for a long time, trying to put together the pieces. "You are angry," it said slowly.

"Yes," Ivy said impatiently.

"You are sad."

Ivy met the clone's eyes, less angry now. "Yes," she agreed in a quieter tone.

"Your friends say you should not be sad, and that makes you angry." Ivy did not say anything, just nodded this time. "You could just… be sad," the clone said haltingly. "Michael is gone, and you are sad. This seems to be within reason." Ivy was staring at it now, with an expression that was unreadable. "This seems a normal reaction until he has returned," continued the clone. "At that point, I believe when there is wrongdoing you it is customary for the guilty party to apologize."

Ivy nodded in a jerky, uneven sort of way, still staring at Michael's clone. "Y-yeah…" she breathed. "When he's back, I'll tell him that I'm sorry… I…"

The clone did not understand what had happened. One moment Ivy was sitting on the opposite bed, staring at it. The next moment, she had thrown herself into its arms, knocking it backwards so it leaned against the wall with Ivy half on top of it as she sobbed into its sweatshirt. "Please, just hold on to me," she begged quietly. "Just for a minute, I promise."

As always, the clone obeyed, wrapping its arms around her and waiting as she cried. The girl kept whimpering "I'm sorry" again and again, but the clone was baffled as to what she had done to him that would merit an apology. When she stopped at last, the clone opened its mouth to ask, only to find her pressing her own mouth against it. She drew back, staring at it with eyes still bright with tears and seemingly waiting.

"What does that mean?" the clone asked her.

Ivy closed her eyes and drew away further, hugging herself and shaking slightly. "It means I miss him."

* * *

The morning of the seventh day dawned. Michael's clone waited for Ivy for the last time. She had decided to put him through his paces one more time to be sure that its facade was convincing. For the first time, the clone had been instructed to show the full Michael act while only she was present. "If you can fool me, you can fool anyone," Ivy had told it last night as she showed it out of her room, having cleaned herself up slightly. 'Ivy is cautious,' the doppelganger thought to itself. 'She is also very thorough.' If it could have, the clone might have admired that about her. Instead, it simply catalogued this knowledge for later and waited for her in the park in the spot that she had brought the clone on the very first day.

It heard Ivy approaching with ears far better than a normal human's, and could tell in an instant that it was her just by her very gait. The clone took a breath and, though no one was there to see it, the transformation was instantaneous. Its broad shoulders hunched forward into a slouch, its brows shifted to give the barest hint of a scowl. Its hands sunk deep in its pockets, and it scuffed at the ground with its shoe. The clone was Michael completely, and it was prepared for Ivy, prepared to keep up this act for the rest of its existence unless otherwise instructed.

And then

something inside of it

snapped.

The clone caught its breath and nearly fell to its knees. Shakily, its grabbed onto a tree as it looked around at the world, a world that it had never really seen before. Up until now the world had consisted of only what it needed to carry out the mission, but now… now it was everywhere. The chill on its skin and the gray of the sky that threatened snow even though it was not yet winter, the way that its breath made small fog dance in front of its face, the bark beneath its fingertips and the light layer of frost on the grass that would surely melt the moment the sun came out and the silence of the early morning that was broken by the occasional rustling of the leaves and… and it was all so beautiful… and it was all so big… and it was all too much. The clone put its hands over its (his? Michael's?) ears and screwed its eyes shut as it started to scream.


	11. In Which an Argument Occurs

The scream that tore the crisp October air was unmistakably Michael's. For a moment, Ivy forgot that Michael was gone, and she raced through the park toward its source. Thankfully, she recalled the circumstances before she reached the clone, but this did not make the sight of the clone doubled over and clutching at its head any less bizarre and alarming.

Ivy tensed as she processed the scene in front of her. 'XANA,' she thought, and a thrill of fear went through her. She assumed a defensive position, ready for the clone to strike.

But the clone made no move to attack her. It opened its eyes as she approached and caught sight of her. She had anticipated seeing XANA's mark it its eyes, but instead, the pupils were so dilated that they appeared almost black. Even as she watched, they shrunk to the size of a pin, then dilated again rapidly. "Ivy," it breathed, and stumbled toward her, tripping over itself and falling to its knees. Ivy automatically backed away when it reached for her, but it made no move to hurt her, instead clutching at her desperately. "Oh, Ivy, please help me…"

"What happened to you?" Ivy asked, fighting the urge to push its hands away. Alarm and pity fought inside of her, for she had never seen the clone looking like this before, so desperate and afraid. "Are you glitching?"

"Am I glitching?" Michael's clone echoed faintly. "I… do not know. I have no data on… Oh, it's all so…" Its eyes left her face, roving all around, and its grip on her tightened as though it was afraid she would disappear.

"I can't help you if I don't know what's happening," Ivy said, fighting to keep a note of panic out of her voice. While it did not seem to be particularly dangerous, she could not rule out the possibility that the clone might suddenly turn on her.

"It is… everything," the clone supplied unhelpfully. "The sky and the grass and you and it is all very… complicated and large and I do not know what to do…"

"Shhh…" Pity was winning out. Ivy took a deep breath to steady her nerves, then moved to sit on her knees in front of the clone, prying the clone's hands off of her clothes and holding them between hers. "It's going to be okay," she assured him, though honestly she knew nothing of the sort. "Can you… I don't know, focus on one thing?"

"There are far too many for just one…" Michael's clone gave a helpless little moan, closing its eyes.

"Just this." Ivy tried to keep her voice low and soothing as squeezed the clone's hands gently. "Just focus on this for now, and then you can decide what you want to pay attention to after that. You choose what to pay attention to. Like a filter, you know?"

"I… can try…" the clone said uncertainly. It fell silent, its expression utterly blank. A few long moments passed, and Ivy struggled not to start shivering. After what seemed like a long time, the clone opened its eyes again, and they had stopped doing the strange expanding and contracting thing. "I believe that I have it under control," it stated, though perhaps it was Ivy's imagination but she thought it sounded doubtful.

"Good." Ivy let go of the clone's hands, but did not move away from it, nor did she stop speaking in her low, soothing voice. "I'm going to call Mr. Belpois now, okay? We can take you to the factory and find out what that was all about."

"No," the clone said quickly. "If we leave now, then both Michael and Ivy will miss class. I exist to ensure that Michael is not missed."

Ivy hesitated. This had bad idea written all over it.

"We can go the moment that class lets out, or even at lunch if that will make you more comfortable," continued the clone.

"What if you freak out again?" Ivy pointed out.

It was the clone's turn to hesitate. "I do not believe that I will," it replied slowly. "If I do, then I shall leave, and we can go to the factory straight away."

Ivy bit her lip. She knew that she should follow what Jeremie had told her to do if anything strange were to happen with the clone, but she couldn't bring him into the factory every single time there was a hiccup. And besides, she rationalized, perhaps this was simply a side effect of him learning so much in such a short amount of time. The girl sighed heavily. "Alright… I suppose we could just wait and see if this problem persists," she conceded. She took out her phone to check what time it was and gave a small groan. "Dang it! I forgot to charge my phone again…" She pocketed the phone and looked at her wrist and swore. "We're late for class!" she yelped, jumping to her feet and grabbing the clone's hand to pull it to a standing position. "Come on!"

* * *

Earlier at the factory, Jeremie had just got off the phone with Principal Delmas to cash in his last sick day. He sighed heavily, leaning back in the computer chair. He and Aelita have been taking turns trying to locate Michael for the past week and so far the results have not been as promising as they had initially hoped. The added code was supposed to cause a more noticeable disruption as they searched the network to make Michael easier to spot. In actuality it meant that they were investigating every single anomaly that they came were currently investigating some stray data that were slightly more promising than the last stray data. Jeremie had long since stopped being hopeful every time they found something strange. Now he was just tired.

"What did Liz have to say?" Aelita asked from the desk beside the supercomputer the group had set up so that whoever was working on the laptop wouldn't have to sit on the ground like they did when they were young.

"She said that I need to get over this cold fast or else we're going to have to have a chat when I get back. So it's just like old times," he explained with a sigh, rubbing his temples. "Meanwhile we get to watch this program scan the next useless mess of code in the virtual sea."

"We'll find him Jeremie...We just have to keep looking," Aelita assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder while she watched the screen go through the anomaly for relevant data.

Time passed slowly and with every passing moment, it looked like it would be another failed scan. Jeremie had just leaned forward to type the command to cease the scan when an alert that they had not heard before popped up, startling both Jeremie and Aelita. "Wait...does that mean...what I think it means?" Aelita said slowly. Jeremie made no answer. His heart was suddenly hammering in his chest as he typed furiously. Could it be…?

After a few very tense moments, the notice that the virtualization program was successful and both of the two adults gave a huge sigh of relief. But their relief was tinged with anxiety. Unbidden, their discussion of Michael's potential possession floated to the front of Jeremie's mind. Much as he wanted to believe that everything was fine, he could not dismiss this possibility. "We should… check on him," Aelita suggested. Judging by her hesitation, the same thought was on her mind.

When they arrived in the scanner room, they saw that one of the scanner doors were open and a figure was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. "Michael, are you okay?" Aelita asked tentatively.

Michael slowly looked up and turned to Aelita. He blinked, either trying to remember where he was or simply trying to focus. "Yeah… Just a very bad headache… What's going on?" he asked, looking around "Where is everyone?"

"At school or at their jobs. You've been gone for a while so we couldn't keep Ivy around here without causing suspicion." Jeremie started to explain. Michael cut him off.

"What do you mean I've been gone?" Michael asked."I didn't go anywhere."

Jeremie and Aelita exchanged a look. "You fell into the virtual sea, remember?" Aelita

"No," Michael said, then frowned. "Wait… No. That was… real? I thought it was… I don't know what I thought it was. A bad dream or something. That's what it felt like.."

"That was real," Aelita confirmed. "I'm sorry. Unfortunately that can take a while to recover. Thankfully we were able to locate you as quickly as we did."

"And how long was that?" the boy asked, a note of panic creeping into his voice.

Another exchanged glance. Again, Aelita answered him in a quiet voice. "It's been about a week."

"A week?!" Michael exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Oh my _god_. I need to get back to Kadic!" He made a move toward the elevator. Jeremie stepped into his path.

"Hold on, Michael, we can't let you leave just yet. We need to run a few tests on you just to make sure you are okay and nothing happened to you. Then we can get you back to Kadic," Jeremie promised.

Michael stopped in his tracks and stared Jeremie down. "I have a life to get back to," he protested. "My dad, Lucas, Ivy…"

"They've all been taken care of," Jeremie assured his student. "We need be sure that XANA didn't do anything to you.

Michael was quiet, considering his options. After a few moments, Michael nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll run your tests. But can we get something to eat first? I haven't exactly eaten in a whole week," he requested earnestly.

Aelita shook her head "It would be best if you stayed here at the factory, but I do have some snacks up in the lab you can have." She offered to him heading into the elevator.

"Sure that'll work for now," Michael agreed following her into the elevator with Jeremie behind him.

Jeremie was quite relieved that Michael had decided to be so reasonable.

In retrospect, they probably should have known better.

* * *

Back at Kadic, Ivy and the clone were running through the halls, weaving their way through staff members and a few other straggling students. Ivy also thought she heard Jim yell something about detention, which she knew she would hear about later. But that was the least of her concerns. Right now, she just was trying to get the two of them to chemistry class. The girl half-dragged the clone behind her, which stumbled after her. As they rounded the corner of the hallway that lead to Ms. Hertz's classroom, Ivy slowed down to catch her breath for a moment so she didn't look completely frazzled entering the room five minutes late for class. She turned and looked at the clone. "Sorry about the rush. You okay?" she panted.

"Yes...I am fine… Although I think I suspect that we shall both pay dearly later, based on what Jim said." In comparison, the clone barely sounded winded at all.

Ivy waved a dismissive hand. "We'll worry about that later. Let's just get class over with." She took a deep, steadying breath before pushing the door to the classroom open.. "Sorry I'm late Ms. Hertz, I had overslept from studying and-" she started to explain, then stopped short. The clone stopped too, staring at the spot it had meant to take. Only someone was already sitting in the chair. Michael had been toying idly with a pencil, staring at the board with disinterest. He looked over at them as he heard Ivy's voice. His eyes locked on the clone. And then several things happened at once.

Michael leaped up, knocking his chair backwards to the floor. Ivy gave a cry of surprise and confusion, dropping to a defensive position in case this obvious XANA trick attacked. The clone turned and fled, turning the corner and vanishing from sight. And the whole classroom burst into a deafening roar of everyone trying to speak at once.

After a few moments of chaos, Ms. Hertz managed to silence her students."Ivy, can you please explain to me what is going on?" she asked, turning to look at Ivy, who was still watching the other Michael. He did not make a move to attack, and seemed just as confused as everyone else. Even as she watched, he flushed scarlet and picked his chair up off the ground. Ivy's heart skipped a beat. What if…?

"Ms. Smith," Mrs. Hertz repeated impatiently.

Ivy was completely at a loss. She opened her mouth, hoping something brilliant would come out but only managed to say "Ah…"

"I suppose the cat is out of the bag." There was the sound of a chair sliding away from a desk. To Ivy's utter astonishment, Lucas stood to address Mrs. Hertz and the classroom at large. "Michael and I met a guy at the movies last week that looked a ton like him, so we thought it would be funny to mess with people and make them think that there were two of him. I'm guessing that Ivy just assumed Michael was skipping class and brought him here, which is why she was late."

Mrs. Hertz, while aging, was sharp as ever. She narrowed her eyes at her young pupil. "I fail to see the joke, Mr. Gosse."

Lucas gave a guilty little smile. "If you have to explain the joke, I guess it's not that funny."

"Is this true?" Mrs. Hertz looked between Michael and Ivy. Together, they nodded. "I am surprised at you two," the teacher scolded Michael and Lucas now. "You know better than this. Non-students are only allowed on Kadic grounds if they're received prior permission from Eliz- Principal Delmas." The woman shook her head, frowning. "All three of you, to the principal's office, now."

Michael and Lucas did not need telling twice. Without a word, the two of them filed out of the room, passing Ivy who still stood in the doorway. The girl shut the door behind them.

Alone in the hall with the two boys, Ivy thought quickly about her next move. Much as she wanted to believe that this was the real Michael, her cautious nature demanded that she check. Instead she looked to Lucas, holding out her hand. "I need your phone. Mine is dead."

"'Thank you, Lucas, for saving my butt back there,'" Lucas remarked, but still pulled out his cell. "'No problem, Ivy, I'm glad to help you out even if you're being really shady and weird. Oh, and here's my phone, too.'" He rolled his eyes as he passed the phone over to her.

Ivy sighed as she took the phone from Lucas "Thank you Lucas, I couldn't get out of there without you," she conceded, ignoring his second comment while she tried to remember Jeremie's number off the top of her head. When she was confident that she had it right, she pressed call and waited.

After the second ring, Jeremie picked up. "Hello? Who is this?" he asked cautiously.

"Ah, good, I got it right," Ivy began with a sigh of relief. After a wary glance over her shoulder, she wandered down the hallway to get out of earshot of Lucas. "Jeremie, it's me, Ivy. Please tell me that you have found Michael…" she murmured, a mixture of worry and hopefulness in her voice. She glanced over at Michael, who was watching her with a frown and was being uncharacteristically quiet.

"Ivy! Oh thank god, we've been so worried!" Jeremie gushed. "We couldn't get ahold of you and when Michael got away, we thought the worst… Aelita was searching the campus. Is he with you, then?"

"My phone died. Yeah, he's with me." She let out a breath she did not know that she had been holding and turned to cast Michael a little smile. He did not return it. "So you found him, then? It's really him?"

Jeremie paused on the phone. "We… believe so," he answered at last. "Honestly, we cannot be certain. The fact that he ran away from the factory certainly does not bode well, but if he is with you and doesn't seem to be acting strangely… We still need him to come back to the factory to run some tests. Bring him back in as soon as you can. Oh, and as for the clone, make sure it stays hidden. If all goes well, we should be able to erase it before the day is over."

"Oh." Ivy chewed her lip. While the clone had been a pain to teach, truth be told she had gotten used to having it around. She thought she might even miss it a bit. "Alright, I'll let them know." 'Though first I'll have to _find_ it,' she added silently to herself. "Anything else?"

"No, that should be it. See you when you get to the factory. Please hurry - and be careful."

"I will," Ivy promised, and hung up.

Ivy walked back to the two boys and handed Lucas his phone back "Thank you for letting me borrow your phone, Lucas," she said, handing it back to him and turning to face Michael completely for the first time. She was not sure what she was expecting for their first meeting. Him staring at her with such a stony expression was not the top of her list.

"Can I talk to you? _Alone?_ " Michael demanded, casting Lucas a glance.

Lucas held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. Keep me in the dark. See if I care." He rolled his eyes again, shaking his head as he walked theatrically to the other end of the hallway.

"Ivy, what's going on?" Michael asked her in a low, urgent voice. "Is this an attack?"

"What? No, of course not!" Ivy replied.

"But the impostor!" Michael gestured in the direction the clone had run off in. "Look, all I know is that I get back from the digital void and Jeremie and Aelita tell me I've been gone a whole week and I'm not allowed to go back until they run their stupid tests, and then -"

"Yeah, about that." Ordinarily, Ivy would not have cut across him, but she wanted to sort this out before she could relax around Michael. "How did you run off from Jeremie and Aelita, and why would you do that?"

"Oh, them? I just waited until they got out of the elevator and closed the door behind them. I figured that by the time that old thing got back down to ground level and back again, I'd have a head start. As for why I ran off… I mean, I was gone a _week_ , Ivy. I wanted to get back to things, to make sure that everything was okay… I figured the tests could wait a couple of hours."

Ivy looked up into those pale blue eyes, and allowed herself to hope that this was the truth. "Well, you have to take the tests now, Michael," she told him, but gently. "And you didn't need to worry, we had it taken care of. Though I suppose now we have to find the clone."

Michael had been about to say something. Now he froze and stared at her. "Clone?" he repeated blankly.

"Yeah. They made it to stand in for you until the adults could track you down," Ivy explained, already looking around to see if the clone might be hiding nearby.

"Wait, wait. Let me get this straight." Michael held up a hand, his expression rapidly darkening. "You guys made some… some _thing_ to replace me?"

"Well no, not replace you," Ivy explained, a little bit impatient. "Just to make sure no one knew you were gone."

"I… see," Michael said slowly, processing this information. "And you just thought it was okay to do that?"

Ivy frowned. "Well, we didn't really have a whole lot of other options."

"Except finding me," Michael pointed out, and his voice came out a growl now. Ivy's heart sank.

"Well, I wasn't… I mean, Jeremie and Aelita were in charge of looking for you, I had to stay with the clone," she began.

If she had hoped that this would help, it did not. Certainly, Michael did not start yelling, but he always turned away from her quite abruptly. "Let's just split up and find this stupid thing, okay? You have to get rid of Lucas, though."

 

Ivy quickly walked around the ground trying to locate the clone, all the while muttering frustrations about Michael under her breath. Convincing Lucas to go away had taken more time than she had anticipated, and after a quick check of the dorms had proved unsuccessful, she was at a loss. And since Michael had completely failed to coordinate with her, she had no idea where Michael would be searching. Reluctantly, Ivy had decided to check the spot that they had met up in the park, well-aware of the fact that Michael might well be combing that area as well and they were just wasting time.

As she trudged through the grass, it occurred to her for the first time that she had no idea what to call the clone. She knew it would answer to Michael, but thus far she had avoided calling it by this name. Besides it somehow felt… wrong, especially with the real Michael back. "Hello?" she called instead as she approached their spot, not expecting an answer.

"I am here," came a quiet answer. Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin. It seemed like the clone had just materialized out of thin air. She smiled at it, and it smiled back, though there was something a little off about its facial expression.

"Glad I found you," she said, moving toward it. "You need to hide."

It blinked at her, its eyebrows raising just a fraction. "Why?" it asked her.

Ivy blinked back, surprised that the clone had asked for an explanation rather than just obeying her. "Well, we need to be sure that you won't disappear in front of anyone. It might make them panic," she explained gently.

"Oh." The clone looked away from her, staring around at the trees and the grass instead. He had done the same thing just half an hour earlier, but now everything was different. It did not make a move to hide, and Ivy made no move toward it. "I like it here," the clone remarked in a soft voice after about a minute. "May I stay here?"

Ivy shook her head. "No. A student could find you."

"I see." It nodded slowly. "Where shall I go, then?"

The girl thought for a moment. "The garden shed isn't far," she decided. "As long as you stay quiet, I don't think you'll be caught. Follow me." She turned and started down the correct path.

As expected, the clone followed her. Not at all expected was when it reached out and touched her hand in a similar manner that it had this morning. Ivy gave a noise of surprise and jerked away.

"I am sorry," the clone murmured. "I believe I… I am _afraid_."

Ivy stopped short and stared at it, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What? I mean, but you… you can't be."

"I concur," the clone agreed. "Yet I feel… different. As you described when I asked a few days ago. I cannot put it into words, but I want… I _want_ … I cannot want, I do not wish, I am only what you told me to be, but I…" It's tongue flicked over its lips as it thought. 'I do that,' Ivy thought, a strange chill going down her spine. 'Michael doesn't do that, but sometimes I do that.'

The clone continued in a voice barely above a whisper, looking up at the trees and the sky again. "The world is beautiful," it breathed. "It is beautiful and it is big and it shall be gone and I shall be nothing and if I feel this than what will I feel like when I am nothing? Code is never erased, not until it's written over… Will I remember that? Will I remember that I was here, that I saw everything here, that I…" His eyes moved back to fix on her face with disconcerting intensity, as though trying to remember every inch. "Will I remember that I met you? I am _afraid_ of what I become once I am done being this."

Ivy swallowed and grimaced, trying her best to set aside what sounded eerily like the human fear of mortality. "I'm sorry," she said, and it was true. "But we can't have two Michaels running around."

"I know…" The clone nodded. "I just… I want to stay. Why can't I stay?"

"Because there's no place for you here," Ivy replied a little sadly. "Michael and I have lives, we're… we're real. You've just been borrowing Michael's for a little while."

"I… I see…" The clone averted its eyes, nodding again.

"It's out of my hands. I'm sorry," Ivy repeated.

"What if I asked the others? Jeremie and Aelita, the humans that created me. Perhaps if they said yes…" There was something in his voice that sounded terribly like hope, and as much as Ivy rationalized that he was a program and could not feel anything, she couldn't bring herself to crush it.

"Well, I suppose you could… try…" she said hesitantly. "We could go to the factory together and you could talk to Jeremie and Aelita. I don't know if it would work, but it couldn't hurt to ask."

"Will you help me?" it asked her.

Again, Ivy hesitated. "I…" she began.

"So, this is it, huh?" a familiar voice came. Michael had tracked them down, and stood with his arms folded, watching the two of them.

Ivy gave a small sigh, both of relief and annoyance. "Michael, I don't know why you're making such a big deal over this. But we're all together now, so let's just go to the factory, okay?"

Michael ignored her and strode over to size up the clone. His doppelganger cast Ivy a nervous look. Michael laughed. "Doesn't seem to be a very good imitation, does it? Does it even talk?"

"I do indeed," the clone answered, returning Michael's gaze now.

Something was wrong here. Ivy had seen Michael angry before, burning with rage. She'd been on the receiving end of it several times. This was something different. Michael had not lost control, but Ivy could almost feel the fury coming off of him.

Michael laughed again, coldly. "It doesn't sound much like me either. Did this really fool anyone?"

"He's a learning clone, Michael," Ivy said impatiently, gesturing for the clone to follow her. "I taught him how to act like you. He's just not doing it right now, which honestly I'm glad about if you're going to act like this. We have to go meet Mr. Belpois."

This was apparently the exact wrong thing to say. Michael's eyes flashed at her dangerously, and he stepped between Ivy and the clone, blocking his path. "Oh, is that right? Well, go on then." He jerked his head at the clone. "Do me."

"I… beg your pardon?" the clone said uncertainly.

"You heard me. Do me. Be me." When the clone did not respond, the boy quite suddenly gave it a shove, making it stumble back a few paces.

"Michael!" Ivy reproached, surprise and alarm coursing through her. Again, Michael ignored her.

"Come on," he growled, shoving his double's chest again. "I want to see what she taught you. Show me what you did, show me how you replaced me."

Michael's clone staggered backwards, but kept its feet. "No," he said, frowning now.

"Michael, stop it." Ivy grabbed his arm.

The boy suddenly rounded on her. "It'll do it if you tell it to, right? Make it be me. I want to see for myself." He took a step forward.

Ivy automatically took a step back. She had been hurt when he had yelled at her before, or angry, or sad. This was the first time that she felt a flutter of fear. "No," she breathed, shaking her head. "I don't know why you're so determined to see that, but no. It was just an act, it was just to make sure no one noticed you were gone."

"And what, did you just forget too?" Michael snarled. "Too busy building a new me to bother looking for the real one?"

"No, of course not," Ivy said, shaking her head.

"I would hope not, after what you did."

Ivy's breath caught in her throat. There it was. The thing that she had been fearing the most. Everyone had been wrong. Michael _did_ blame her. "I-I…" she began weakly. Michael was still advancing on her, and Ivy thought faintly how similar it was to their last fight, only this time their roles were reversed. The difference was that this time, Ivy had someone intervene.

"Stop!" The sound of the clone's voice drew both of their attention. Its body language had transformed it. Ivy had seen the clone's Michael imitation many times. What it was doing now was close, but something was just a little bit different. She could not put her finger on it, but was not given much time to reflect on it. "Leave her alone!" the clone continued, glaring at Michael.

To be fair, Michael did do as the clone said, but only because his attention was now fully fixed on his double now. "So, that's it? That's me?" He shook his head, moving back toward the clone. "You're nothing like me."

"Why would I wanna be?" The clone was borrowing from Michael's speech patterns, standing its ground. "Seems to me it would have been better for you to stay gone, if you're just going to be a bullying jerk for no reason."

Michael gave the clone a huge shove, and it fell backwards, landing in the dirt. "You are just some _thing_ ," he hissed furiously. "Some _program_ they made to replace me. You don't know me. You don't know what I feel."

"That's enough!" Ivy roared, placing herself between Michael and the clone. "Both of you, stop it now."

The rage that had been rolling off of Michael in tangible waves suddenly died. He was looking from Ivy to the clone and back again. The boy crossed his arms again. "So, that's it?" he asked again. "That's me? Angry kid who says terrible things?"

Ivy helped the clone to his feet, not looking at the boy she had thought was her friend. "Sometimes, Michael, yes," she agreed quietly.

"I see now." He stared them down as the clone clung to her arm, both frightened and protecting one another. "I see everything." The boy turned his back on them without another word and walked away.


	12. In Which There Is Resolution

Ache. The clone knew logically that's what this sensation was called where it had hit the ground. Jeremie and Aelita had given it simulated pain to ensure the clone would react appropriately to a painful situation. The clone wondered vaguely if what it felt and what Ivy felt would be the same. It also wondered why this physical pain could not compete with the emotions churning through him. These feelings frightened it, and the fact that it could frighten him just served to strengthen the fear. In fact, the only reason that the clone did not dissolve into blind panic was the fact that Ivy was there. Ivy, who would help the world make sense. She would tell the clone what to do. The clone trusted her implicitly.

"Is he gone?" the clone muttered to Ivy after about a minute of silence. It was still clinging to the arm she had used to help it up.

"Yes," Ivy confirmed quietly, pulling her arm away from the clone, but gently.

Another, shorter pause. "What now?" the clone prompted.

"Now…" Ivy took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know. I have to bring him to the factory, but there's no way he'll come with me if you're here. He might not come with me anyway, come to think of it, but I have to try. Mr. Belpois made it sound like he might be dangerous if something happened to him while he was gone. I know _you're_ not, or at least I hope you aren't…" She shook her head.

'Dangerous?' the clone thought, bewildered. The idea that whatever had caused… whatever this was might make him dangerous… The clone was not sure what to do. Its newfound sense of self-preservation conflicted with its desire to protect others. For the first time, the clone found itself wondering if this was its own thought, or if this "feeling" had been programmed into it by Jeremie and Aelita to reduce risk factors.

"We'll have to stash you in the garden shed after all," Ivy decided, still thinking aloud.

Panic again. If the clone did not come with her, it would not be able to speak to Jeremie and Aelita, and it would surely be erased. ('Die?' a small voice at the back of its mind asked.) At the same time, obedience to Ivy had been written into just about every line of the program's code. The clone sensed it might be able to defy her if it tried hard enough, but for now all it could manage was the weakest protest. "But…" it managed in an almost inaudible voice.

Ivy fixed her bright green eyes on the clone again, focusing completely on him at last and frowning slightly, as if she was presented with a complicated math problem. "Don't worry," she told Michael's clone at last. "I'll talk to them for you. I can't promise that they'll say yes, but I will try."

The clone wanted to run as far and fast as its strong legs could take it. It wanted to try to outrun the supercomputer, or to go to the factory itself and beg the pair that had created it to let it stay. Instead, its eyes - just ever so slightly too blue - locked on Ivy's, and it nodded. "I trust you," it murmured. It did not know how to do anything but.

* * *

Twenty minutes of fruitless searching ensued. Ivy had never appreciated how large the Kadic grounds were until she was expected to turn them upside down looking for someone - without being caught by anyone, no less. The good news was that she managed to avoid Jim, Principal Delmas, and all of the teachers, which was nothing short of a miracle. The bad news was that there was no sign of Michael, and his cell phone kept going straight to voicemail. The worst news of all was that she ran into Lucas again, and this time he was even more difficult to get rid of.

"I'm looking for the other one," he had told Ivy, blocking her path. "I let you go earlier because you and Michael seemed to be needed elsewhere, but I know what I saw. There were two of him, Ivy, even if I covered for you. Is this why Michael has been acting so weird lately?"

"Lucas, I still have somewhere that I need to be." Ivy's tone was almost pleading. "I'll explain everything later, I swear."

"You're lying." It was not an accusation, merely a statement.

Ivy had given an exasperated sigh. "Probably," she admitted. "But right now, I really need to find him, and I need you to leave me alone." She had pushed past him without another word, and she prayed that he wasn't going to go to the principal.

It was only after all of this that Ivy had given up and decided to call Jeremie and break the news… Only to be informed that Michael was already at the factory.

"He said he told you," insisted Jeremie again and again in response to Ivy's frustration.

"He didn't," Ivy responded again and again with a growl. "I'll be right there."

As was usual these days, Aelita and Jeremie were both at the factory when Ivy arrived, deep in conversation which stopped as soon as the elevator doors opened.. As usual, Aelita greeted Ivy with a smile. To Ivy's slight surprise, Jeremie matched her smile, looking more relaxed than she had seen him since Michael had disappeared. "You're just in time," he informed her. "We're wrapping up the tests on him now."

"Is the news good, then?" In spite of everything, Ivy felt a spark of excitement for Michael's sake.

Jeremie's smile diminished slightly. "The news is mixed," he admitted. "But the important thing is… it's really him, Ivy. No XANA tricks, nothing. He's back." He put a hand to his headset and added, "You can come up now, Michael."

Ivy made a noncommittal noise, conflicting emotions warring in her now. On the one hand, she was relieved that Michael was really back, but on the other… some small part of her had been hoping that the boy she had seen less than an hour ago had not been the real Michael. Her ambivalent feelings only increased as the elevator delivered Michael a minute later, and he looked past her like she was not even there.

"Are you satisfied that I'm me now?" he asked, marching over to Jeremie and Aelita and crossing her arms. "I came back on my own, I did all your tests."

"Yes, you did very good, Michael," Aelita said reassuringly as Jeremie tapped a few keys to bring up the data. The two of them exchanged a look.

Michael's careless demeanor faltered. "Is… everything okay?" he inquired, nervousness creeping into his voice.

Jeremie took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, the thing is… your virtualization program is full of bugs, Michael. We don't know how it happened. It could be prolonged exposure to the digital void, it could be we did it by accident in our haste to bring you back… It could even be that XANA got to you while you were in the digital sea and bugged up your protocols. We just don't know."

Michael dropped his arms to his sides, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "So what does that mean?" he asked slowly.

Another meaningful glance exchanged between the two. "It means we can't send you back to Lyoko," Aelita intoned at last.

"Well, we could," Jeremie corrected. "It would just probably… be a one-way trip."

Michael did not speak, but crossed his arms again, hugging them close against his chest. Ivy felt a wash of pity, remembering how excited Michael had been about going to Lyoko before all this. She did not speak or move toward him. Even under the best of circumstances, Michael tended to return sympathy with aggression.

"You can fix it, though, right?" was his response at last, looking from Aelita to Jeremie and then back again.

Jeremie opened his mouth to say something. Aelita laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. The blonde man shut his mouth and allowed Aelita to answer instead. "We're not sure, Michael. There are other complications that the group has been wanting to talk to you about. You as well, Ivy."

"Complications?" echoed Ivy, speaking for the first time since Michael had entered the room. "Like what?"

"We're going to meet up at Yumi's tonight to discuss it," Aelita answered evasively. "We would like you both to be there. We'll be at the school tonight to pick you up just before dinner. Okay?"

Ivy nodded. Michael just grunted.

"Sorry to keep you hanging," added Jeremie. "There's just a lot to sort out today. Aelita and I have been skipping our jobs for a week, so we've got to get that all in order. Is the clone in a safe place so it can be dealt with, Ivy?"

Ivy swallowed hard, steeling her nerves. "Yes, but -" she began.

Micahel cut across her, still not looking at her. "No," he spat. "If you start talking about that thing, I'm out of here. Am I done?" he demanded of Jeremie and Aelita.

"Y-yes," answered a stunned Aelita, confused at Michael's sudden change in attitude.

"Good. I'm going back to school." Without a word of goodbye to any of them, Michael stalked out of the lab.

A few moments of shocked silence passed. "What happened?" Aelita asked Ivy at length.

"He doesn't like the clone," Ivy answered, understating hugely.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we're getting rid of it," Jeremie remarked with a shrug, seemingly at a loss. "As long as you're sure no one is going to see him vanish."

"It's not going to matter much if someone sees him disappear, people have already seen Michael and the clone together," Ivy pointed out. " _Lucas_ saw them, no less."

Jeremie groaned. "Okay, so we'll have to do a return to the past. I'll send you back, and I'll need you to let me know when you have the clone in a secure location so that I can erase him."

Ivy took a deep breath, recognizing that her ability to stall this conversation any longer had just dried up. "I don't think you can erase him," she stated quietly.

Her teacher, who was occupied with programming the return to the past, took a moment to process her statement. Jeremie blinked, then frowned as her words reached him. "I have full control of the tower, if that's what you're concerned about. Deactivating it without going to Lyoko is no issue."

"No, I mean… morally," Ivy explained. This got their attention. Two pairs of confounded eyes fixed on Ivy, silently demanding explanation. Ivy took another deep breath, trying her best to ignore the shakiness in her hands as she attempted to explain this without sounding insane. "He's… changed," she said at last. "I don't think he's just a program anymore."

"Ivy," began Jeremie in a tone that was clearly meant to convey understanding rather than condescension. "I know that you have spent a lot of time with the clone and that he's meant to seem human, but-"

"I know that!" Ivy interrupted quickly, embarrassment and irritation at Jeremie's assumption warring inside of her. "I know he's still a program, but I think he's more than he was before. Something happened this morning." Briefly, Ivy related to the two older Lyoko Warriors the events of that morning. She glossed over the fight with Michael, more because she wanted to pretend herself that it had not happened than to keep him out of trouble.

"He asked us not to kill him," Ivy finished at last. "I think that we owe him a chance, at least."

There was a brief pause as Jeremie and Aelita digested Ivy's story. "Something must have gone wrong with the program," Jeremie said at last, and the condescending tone was gone - as was his relaxed attitude. "You should have told us sooner."

"He asked me not to," Ivy reiterated. "He was afraid."

"Ivy." Jeremie cast her an impatient glance. "It _can't_ be afraid. It's a program. It can simulate emotions to convince other people that it is Michael, if need be… but if it's trying to convince _you_ that it's a real boy, we've got bigger problems."

"He's a learning clone," pointed out Ivy. "Maybe he learned them. He could be an AI."

Jeremie was already typing furiously in the computer, and becoming visibly annoyed at Ivy's continued interruption. "That's not possible, Ivy," he said shortly.

Ivy, in turn, was becoming frustrated with Jeremie's refusal to take her seriously. This was a sentiment clearly shared by Aelita, who laid a hand on the keyboard to stop Jeremie typing and gave him a look that gave no room for argument. Jeremie gave an impatient noise but turned to Ivy, waiting for her response. "There's XANA," was her only counter.

"Okay," Jeremie revised. "Let's put it this way. Is the supercomputer technically able to create and sustain artificial intelligence? Yes, with only one cited case. However, we have no idea how Franz Hopper managed to create XANA as a true, sentient artificial intelligence. The Turing Test is pretty much useless in the case of the supercomputer, as it is capable of producing programs that are able to convince a human that they are human with ease. The problem would be in drawing the line between true thought and emotion and mere simulations. But okay, let's suppose for just a moment that Michael's clone is the real thing. If that's the case, that is even more reason that we should be killing it."

"Jeremie!" Aelita's voice was full of undisguised horror.

"What!" Jeremie's tone was defensive, now. "Look, the only sentient program that we know of is XANA, and we've spent years saving the world from him. I don't think it's worth the gamble, and if we can quash the risk while it's still small..."

"He _asked_ us not to kill him," Ivy reiterated, feeling faintly sick.

"You're allowing your personal attachment blind you," Jeremie said dismissively.

"My personal attachment? I've spent the better part of a week avoiding him! The only thing I know is that if something can think enough to want to live, we can't just kill it without a thought. We at least owe him a chance to prove himself."

"I'm sorry, Ivy," Jeremie replied tonelessly. "I did put parameters in place to ensure that something like this would never happen. They must have failed, so this is at least in part my fault. Whether it's just a bug, or if it's real AI, we can't take the risk either way."

"Jeremie." The horror was gone from Aelita's voice, replaced with what Ivy suspected were unshed tears. The young woman with the bright pink hair who usually smiled so easily was not smiling anymore. Her hands were balled into fists, and she was shaking faintly. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"A… Aelita…?" Jeremie turned to her, confusion written all over his face.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Aelita repeated more audibly. "With all your talk of personal attachment and AIs being dangerous… Aren't you forgetting _everything_? I spent a year and a half of my life thinking I was an AI."

Jeremie's mouth worked soundlessly. "Oh…" was all he managed.

"Yeah. Oh." A tear escaped the corner of Aelita's eye, which she wiped away impatiently, her eyes never leaving Jeremie. "Back then, it didn't matter to you that I might be an AI, because I could think and I could feel and you wanted to meet me. I've been sitting here biting my tongue for the past couple of weeks because I know you're scared and I know you think you're doing the right thing and we've all been through a lot. But if you have changed so much you feel you have the right to make this decision based on something that _might_ happen… I don't know you at all anymore."

"Aelita…" Jeremie gaped at her, hurt. "You don't mean that… I'm just trying to keep us safe…"

Jeremie and Aelita appeared to have forgotten Ivy was even there. The girl wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor. As this was not an option, she chose instead to clear her throat uncomfortably.

Both of them looked over at her, as if emerging from a dream. Aelita gave Ivy an apologetic look. Jeremie swallowed visibly and started typing again. "Send it to the factory when you get back to school. We'll all take a vote. I assume I already know yours and Michael's."

"Yes," Ivy agreed, nodding. It was as good of an outcome as she could have hoped for, and right now she wanted nothing more than to leave this situation.

"Okay. Then I'm taking you back to this morning just before people saw you and the double enter. Return to the past now."

White light erupted from the floor, and the world around Ivy faded… Ivy and the clone were running through the halls, weaving their way through staff members and a few other straggling students. Ivy also thought she heard Jim yell something about detention, which she knew she would hear about later. But that was the least of her concerns. She pulled the clone behind a pillar not far from the classroom to talk to him.

"What did they say?" the clone gushed before Ivy could say a word.

"You have to go to the factory," Ivy replied, choosing her words carefully. "They're going to vote… but Aelita is definitely on your side. It was all I could do."

"I understand," the clone said with a nod of his head. "I will go." He started to turn away, then paused and added, "If I do not come back… thank you for trying to help me."

"Of course," Ivy responded automatically, then watched him go, hoping that she had made the right decision.

* * *

Around 20:30 that evening, Michael was starting to wonder what the big deal was. The boy had shown up right before the appointed time to avoid standing with Ivy for an extended period of time, but he had shown up nonetheless for Yumi to pick them up. Ulrich and Odd were waiting for them with two pizzas and a plethora of paper plates. Aside from a rather ominous expression on Yumi's face when he explained that Jeremie and Aelita "couldn't make it" and an awkward silence between Michael and Ivy, the dinner was shaping up to be better than the boy had anticipated. In fact, by midway through, Michael was even toying with the idea of acknowledging to Ivy again. He would not forgive her, not yet, but at the very least he could stop acting like she was invisible. And that was when Ulrich dropped the bombshell.

"What?" Michael's half-eaten slice of pizza hung suspended in the air, momentarily forgotten as he struggled to wrap his mind around the words that had just come out of Ulrich's mouth.

"We think it would be best if you and Ivy took a break from the team until further notice," Ulrich repeated patiently.

"But… but you can't!" Michael burst out angrily. A piece of sausage slid off of his pizza and plopped onto Yumi's carpet. The boy replaced the pizza on the paper plate, his eyes moving between each of the three original Lyoko Warriors as he searched silently for a sign that they did not mean what they were saying. All the boy saw was sad resolution.

Ivy, who was curled up on the futon nearby, took a different tack. "Why?" she asked the group simply.

It was Odd, surprisingly, who answered. "It's not that we don't want you around," he assured them both. "It's just, well… we can't take the risk of having you fighting with us. Someone could get hurt."

"The situation with Michael being gone made us realize how much danger we were putting you both in," Ulrich added. "We can't do that."

"What?! So wait a second, I get pushed into the digital void -"

"I didn't push you!" Ivy pointed out, a touch of anger in her voice.

"Whatever. My point is, she messed up -" Michael jabbed an accusing finger at Ivy "- and I get punished for it?"

"Michael, no one is being punished," Yumi started, but Michael interrupted.

"No, that's exactly what's happening!" he snapped. "That wasn't XANA's fault, that was Ivy's. I mean, I haven't even gotten to fight yet!"

"And comments like that are exactly why you're not going to," was Yumi's response, overriding Michael's tirade with a tone that brooked no argument. "This isn't a game, Michael."

"I know that!" Michael said quickly, but he had lost some of his steam, and Yumi took the opportunity to continue speaking.

"I know this is difficult to hear because you have both been working very hard," she stated, "but we only want to do what is best for you. This is _our_ fight, and it always has been, and we were wrong to involve you in the first place."

"It's our fight too!" Michael protested. "It's our _world_ too! You can't just decide that we should go back to acting like we don't know what's going on."

"We're not asking that, necessarily," Ulrich interjected. "We just… need you to take a step back. If an attack comes at the school, we will expect you to help keep the students safe. But for now, that is the extent of your involvement."

"Oh, come on," scoffed the dark-haired boy, glaring at his mentor. "That's just to make us feel better and you know it. Don't lie to us." Michael turned to Ivy and gestured emphatically. "Why aren't you saying anything?" he demanded. "Come on! Back me up! We deserve to be a part of this."

Ivy hesitated, not meeting Michael's eyes and touching her hair, a nervous gesture. "I do want to fight," she said in a quiet voice. "I do. I just… I get it, Michael. You weren't here. You and Yumi and Ulrich and Odd… and even Lucas… you almost died. I had to fight by myself and all I could think was if I was too late for even one of you that it would be my fault."

"And you of all people should realize now that Lyoko, even without XANA, can be dangerous," Ulrich added, not unkindly. He was looking at Michael with what the boy suspected was pity, which only made the boy angrier, but he had no good response. Instead, Michael stared at his hands, trying to think of a new argument.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Ivy," Yumi said to Ivy now. "And we're sorry to be putting you both through this, too. I know that the clone staying is only going to make things more complicated, too, but…"

Michael's head snapped up. "What?" he asked, momentarily surprised out of his sulk by this comment. "What did you say?"

Yumi turned her dark eyes on him. "The clone," she reiterated. "We took a vote. It showed signs of sentience, so we decided to let it continue to exist for the time being, until we can conclusively test-"

Once again, the boy cut across her, his gaze fixed on Ivy now. " _That's_ what you wanted to talk to Jeremie and Aelita about? You wanted to keep it? What, as… as some kind of _pet?_ "

"No, Michael," Ivy replied, returning his gaze steadily. "Not as a pet. And _I_ didn't want anything, he's the one that asked."

"But he only does what you tell him to," Michael pointed out.

"Like Yumi just said," Ivy continued as if she hadn't heard him, though her voice rose, "he's showing signs of sentience. That means he's thinking for himself."

"I know what it means," snapped the boy, insulted.

"Then you know it wasn't my call!" Ivy growled back.

Michael gave a noise of frustration and looked around the group. "You're not going to let me stay in the group no matter what I say, are you? I don't care if Ivy wants to quit, but I want to stay. Will you let me?"

Again, it was Odd that answered. "No," he replied simply. "I'm sorry."

"Fine. Then I want to go back to school." Michael pushed the plate of pizza away from him. "You can keep your apologies. If you're done with me, I'm done with you, too."

* * *

The group dispersed quite shortly after that. Yumi agreed to drive Ivy and Michael back to campus. Odd and Ulrich headed home to the apartment that they both shared. To their surprised, someone was waiting on their doorstep when they arrived there. Jeremie, red-eyed and holding a duffel bag, stood shivering outside.

"Why didn't you just use your key?" Odd called to him as they approached.

The young man shook his head. "It didn't feel right," he answered, sounding like he had a bad head cold. "Can… Can I stay with you guys tonight?"

Ulrich and Odd exchanged a glance. Truth be told, neither of them was very happy with Jeremie's actions as of late. But family was family. "Of course," Ulrich replied, unlocking the door as Odd clapped Jeremie on the shoulder. "Come on in. I'll make us something to drink."

* * *

Yumi's car pulled away, leaving the two students behind. As of this morning, they had had a purpose, a common goal that united them. Now they were once again just a couple of normal students. Michael felt more lost and lonely at this school than he had ever been before, and he turned to hurry toward the dorms.

To his utter amazement, Ivy made one last attempt to speak to him. "Michael…"

Michael did not turn at the sound of his name, but he did stop. "God, Ivy, can you not take a hint?" he snarled, staring at the frozen ground. "I don't want to talk to you. _Ever._ You ruined everything."

Ivy made a sound as if she was going to say something else, then thought better of it. She brushed by him, half-jogging toward the dorms. Michael let her go, and waited despite the cold to ensure that they wouldn't run into each other on the way up the stairs.

Lucas looked up as Michael slammed the door to their room closed. "Evening," he remarked mildly. Michael just grunted, pulling off his sweatshirt and throwing it carelessly into the wardrobe. "Not going to hang that up?" Lucas commented.

"No," Michael groused, shutting the wardrobe with slightly more force than was strictly required.

"What's been with you lately?" Lucas inquired as Michael stalked over to his bed.

"I don't even know." This was completely the truth. God only knew what that thing had been up to around here.

"Are you and Ivy fighting again or something?"

"Shut up, Lucas." Michael threw himself on the bed, flinging his arm over his eyes.

Lucas gave a shrug. "Okay, fine."

Silence fell. Michael heard rather than saw Lucas working his homework, based on the rustling of his backpack, the sound of turning pages, the scribbling of Lucas' mechanical pencil. Michael himself just sat there, feeling about as miserable as he could ever remember being. In fact, this feeling was only comparable to one thing. He cleared his throat and spoke in a low mumble. "My mother."

"I'm sorry?" The scribbling stopped.

"My mom. She left us, when I was four. Just walked out the door and never came back." Michael moved his arm off his face, but only so he could roll over and face the wall. "I looked her up before I came so school here. She has a new family now. Kid should be about ten now, I think."

A pause. Lucas was waiting for Michael to continue. When he did not, his roommate simply said "I see." Another pause. "I'm really sorry that happened, Michael. If… If you don't me asking, why are you telling me this now?"

'Because,' Michael thought bitterly, 'I can't tell _her_ that, can I?' He knew that whatever his dad used to say about his mom just not being ready to have a child that it was a lie. She just didn't want him. And whatever Ivy said, he knew that she was lying too. She had replaced him, after all, and decided she liked the replacement better. Michael would never be able to begin to express how deeply that had wounded him. Now she had taken Lyoko away from him, too. This was all her fault.

Michael had come back from the digital void wanting to beg Ivy's forgiveness, to tell her that of course he didn't hate her, that he even… The boy shook his head and closed his eyes. No, he didn't hate her. But from now on he was going to try his very best to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder! While this may be the reason behind Michael's behavior it doesn't excuse it! He's still a jerk! This has been a PSA.


	13. In Which Two Months Pass Four Ways

'Two months,' Michael thought dully to himself as he toyed with his food. His eyes he kept glued to the plate, and his headphones allowed him to pretend to be completely oblivious, despite the fact that no music was playing right now. At least it conveyed the message he wanted - 'Leave me alone'. Not that anyone would have tried, anyway, and that was the way that he wanted it.

'Just two months,' he considered again, spearing a piece of broccoli with excessive force. He had long since given up trying not to count the days. How could he not, when every day was a reminder of the world that he had tasted so briefly only to have them decide that they didn't want him after all. He couldn't forget, not when she was always around, and not when he had to see Belpois almost every day for class.

When he was feeling a little more gracious, he admitted to himself that the Lyoko Warriors had not frozen him out entirely. Jeremie had conveyed to Ulrich's offer to continue their math tutoring sessions. Michael regretted sometimes how quickly he had said no. To be fair, Jeremie had followed this offer up immediately by informing him that the group was researching ways to eliminate his and Ivy's DNA from the Return to the Past exclusion, so Michael was not in the best mood at the time. Given that there had been no jumps back in since that Michael could recall, he assumed that either XANA had been quiet or the attempt to remove him from the system had succeeded. Jeremie made no further offers to help Michael. He probably had other things on his mind.

Aside from that, Michael had not heard from the Lyoko Warriors, though Odd had waved to him like a maniac the one time Michael caught him emerging from the administration building. It was that gesture and Ulrich's offer that allowed Michael to look upon the Lyoko Warriors with anything other than resentment. He still hated them sometimes for kicking him out of their group, but sometimes, just sometimes, he allowed himself to consider that maybe they had not abandoned them as completely as he told himself they had. Just look at Ivy.

Michael mentally flinched away from the topic. Oh, Ivy. He tried not to think about her, but it was difficult in such a small school, especially when they sat together in one of their classes. She had not spoken one word to Michael since that night. 'And I'm just fine with that,' Michael brooded, using his knife and fork to shred the piece of steamed broccoli into tiny pieces. He knew for a fact, though, that the Lyoko Warriors were still talking to her. Where else could she possibly be sneaking off to every night? To the factory, of course, to see them, and to see that… thing. Often Michael thought about following her, confronting her, but he never did. For one thing, try as he might, he could not find the right words to say to her. And a deep, dark part of him wondered if the Lyoko Warriors had decided to allow Ivy back into the team, without him.

The boy shook his head, trying to clear it, and got up to go dump his food in the trash. It had long since gone cold. He passed the table where Ivy sat, chatting with the boy he had once considered his best - and only - friend. Michael refused to look at either of them as he passed, though he did notice out of the corner of his eye that Lucas raised his hand in acknowledgement. Yes, that was the final change these days, aside from his grades slipping again and his painful boredom with the monotony of each day. The morning after telling Lucas about his mom, Michael had burned with humiliation that he had disclosed so much, and responded by shutting Lucas out altogether. After about two weeks of stony silence rather than their usual back and forth banter, Lucas had clearly chosen to do the same. Fine, he did still try to talk to Michael when they were in the same room, but that was just because it was too awkward for him to ignore Michael completely. The important thing was, he had found another place to sit at meals - with _her_. Yet another thing she had taken.

So Michael kept his headphones in at all times these days and withdrawn into himself. He didn't bother anyone, and they didn't bother him. That was fine. This is what he had wanted. He was not lonely.

* * *

Ivy shivered, pulling her coat tighter around herself as she sped away down the sewer path, as she did every night. Right about now would usually be the time that she would ask herself why she put herself through this all the time when it was so cold. Tonight, however, she had found something else to reflect on. 'Two months already?' Ivy wondered to herself. She would not have believed it if the clone had not pointed it out to her. Time was slipping by so quickly. And so much had changed.

Not in class, admittedly. That had largely remained the same. Ivy took notes (doodling in the margin as always) she studied hard, she turned in all her assignments on time. Getting good grades was simple. It was surviving here that was difficult - or at least, it had been before. For the second time, Ivy had found friends here.

Lucas had been a complete surprise. When first the blonde-haired boy had asked to eat with her, Ivy had strongly suspected that this was going to be yet another ploy to harass her about Michael or pry into her personal life. She had waved him away for three consecutive days. On the fourth day was the first and only time that Lucas mounted any sort or protest instead of turning around to sit with Michael again. "Please?" he had asked in a barely audible voice.

Ivy had studied him, surprised, and found no trace of jest or mockery. Lucas just gazed back at her earnestly, almost a little sadly. "Alright," Ivy agreed hesitantly, gesturing to the seat across for her. The blonde-haired boy gave her a wan smile and set his tray down. That first day had been spent more or less in silence. She had expected him to return to Michael's table, but at every meal after that Lucas had shown up with the same polite request on his lips, and she had always answered with the same quiet consent. Soon enough it had become habit.

Trust had come later, and even then was measured. At the very least Ivy had stopped worrying that Lucas was reporting back to Michael everything that she said. The dark-haired boy glowering at them morning, noon, and night had assured her of this much. Under Lucas' gentle probing and lighthearted banter, Ivy had begun to open up, to share her day to day experiences and occasionally something of real importance. However, wary Ivy was cautious never to give away too much. However innocent his questions seemed, she could not forget how nosy the boy could be, and knew that any personal information that she disclosed was probably being filed away for future use. Still, sometimes it was difficult to remain reserved when faced with what seemed to be such genuine interest and enjoyment.

This was part of the reason that she enjoyed being around the clone so much. In fact, the list of reasons she enjoyed being around the clone was expanding at an exponential rate. No longer did she think of the clone as some sort of annoyance or an obligation. She could not remember the precise moment that she had realized that, abhorrent as she would have found the idea at first, the two of them were friends. If she had to guess, it must have been one of the many times that she walked in and was greeted with all the enthusiasm of a new puppy. He would immediately set aside whatever he had been doing to tell her all about the things that he had learned, and unless she was doing homework she would have his undivided attention up until she left for the evening. Sometimes even then he would just sit and watch her, though she refused to ask him for help, deeming this cheating.

After the first week, she had usually come to the lab to find him curled up in the corner with a book. Ivy asked once what reading was like for the clone, and he had described it as a process not unlike real reading. Except faster. Much, much faster. The books were supplied by Jeremie, who showed up every afternoon with a trunkful for the clone to peruse in the afternoon, around spending time with Ivy. In stark contrast to his initial reaction to the clone, Jeremie had thrown himself into its education with a manic determination that Ivy had only ever seen in relations to XANA. The clone was banned from the internet for the time being ("For obvious reasons," Jeremie had said) thus necessitating Jeremie to supply his excessive amount of reading material. At first the subjects were chosen by Jeremie. Later the clone started requesting subjects himself. His latest special interest was astronomy.

Ivy had laughed out loud when the clone had first tried to talk to her about these interests. He had set aside his book and asked her to explain the motivation of some obscure historical figure - she could not recall precisely which one, but she did remember his reaction. The look on his face when he realized that she had not, in fact, memorized everything the way that he did was just too funny. She had assured him once she was done laughing that just because she did not know everything did not mean that they could not talk about it and figure it out together. There were times after this that she regretted this as he barraged her with a long spiel about whatever topic he was currently learning, from taxonomy to baking. But not many.

That was also when he had stopped being so reliant on her, as far as she could tell. He still came to her when he had questions that he could not answer, but sometimes the clone was just quiet, and she could almost see him trying to work out answers for himself, like any normal person would. She found herself forgetting more and more often that he was not a real person. Except…

Except when it came to emotions, cliche though it was. He had read books on the the brain and understood what Ivy had meant when she talked about chemical reactions. Having none of those chemicals himself, the clone relied on what he had been told about emotions to understand. While he seemed to get the concept, his need to have it all explained to him in great detail was a reminder to her that he was only a program. How much of his attention was residual programming? When he beamed at her when she walked into the lab, was he truly happy or imitating happiness? Every now and again she found herself making an excuse to leave early in the evening, and felt a cold shiver when the clone's face fell. But most of the time she was untroubled. The clone had changed in so many ways, and not just mentally, over the last few weeks, and she for the first time since leaving Canada, she felt like she could be completely and totally herself around someone.

So things were good. Not perfect, no, this much was true. Michael glaring at her all the time made sure of that. And every now and again, she did feel a little pang of loss when thinking about Lyoko, knowing that she would never be going back. But things were still better than they had been before all of this by a long shot. For now, that was all that mattered. Ivy coasted down the sewer path, headed toward a room that was beginning to feel just a little like home.

* * *

Alone in the tower, the clone stood before the screen, making adjustments. This nightly ritual was broken today by the occasional pause as it would stop and look at its hand, giving a little smile. "Two months," it murmured to itself softly. It had mentioned this fact to Ivy on her way out this evening. She had seemed mildly surprised, but pleased. To the clone, though, these two months were everything. Two months since it had been… Born was not quite the right word. Awake. Changed. What a wonderful thing to be. It was not just that the world was full of beauty and possibility, it was not just that the clone was gaining more knowledge every day than it had ever thought could exist in the world. It was that for the first time, the clone wanted things.

At least, the clone thought that it did, based on Ivy's description of how it felt to want something. The topic had first come up when Aelita had pointed out that the clone need not look like Michael any longer, and Ivy had asked it what it wanted to look like. The clone was utterly bewildered when faced with this concept, and explained to Ivy that it could not want.

"What about wanting to live?" Ivy had pointed out.

"That is different," the clone had answered. "I was programmed with a directive for self-preservation. It was simply ranked lower. I changed the importance."

"Why?" Aelita had asked it gently. The clone had been unable to answer.

Ivy went on to explain to him the notion of liking and disliking things. As the days approached the two-week winter break, she had brought it magazines for the two of them to peruse together and for the clone to experiment with the various features. At first the clone had selected the new features to try out more or less at random, and mainly to please Ivy because she seemed to want him to choose. Later, it had found the choices becoming less random as it developed personal preference. For instance, while the clone felt absolutely no gender identity, it decided after about a week of a female appearance that it would prefer to have a male form. Ivy had seemed disconcerted when it had first presented itself as female, despite that being the only change it had made since the day before, and the clone did not like to put her ill at ease. Besides, the clone found any level of breast tissue to be terribly inconvenient. It had also opted to retain its appearance as being roughly the same age as the students at Kadic Academy. Jeremie had been quite insistent on that, and the clone had wished for this as well. Ivy was friendly with the original Lyoko Warriors, but something about their interactions lacked the openness that she had around the clone. The clone did not want that.

Eventually, the magazines had given way to pictures from a place that Ivy referred to as "home", and had later identified as Quebec. Ivy was secretive about these, speaking in an undertone so that only the clone could hear as she told the stories associated with each photograph. It was the friends that Ivy had left behind that the clone drew most inspiration from for its physical appearance. It liked the way that Ivy's eyes went soft and distant with memory as she looked at those pictures.

These days, to call the program a clone was a misnomer. It no longer resembled Michael in the slightest. It no longer had the boy's stocky build or dusky brown skin. The clone was taller now, the kind of half-grown gangly that hinted that it would be taller yet in years to come. Rather than Michael's dark, wavy hair, the clone had an auburn fringe that stuck up at odd angles. Its face was more open that Michael's, the kind of face one would expect on someone prone to toothy grins, as the clone so often gave. Only the eyes were the same - not Michael's icy blue, but the deeper blue of sunlit pools. Objectively, the clone recognized that its new form was less conventionally attractive than its original one. It loved every inch, because it belonged no one but itself. If someone saw the clone passing in the street, no one would look twice, and that was what the clone liked best.

These days, its appearance did not change much from day to day. It spent the nights and mornings making minor changes - adding a freckle under its eyebrow, a puckered scar on its leg. The tiniest additions, like its pores, were only printed on, and it would tweak them from time to time as well. Not the most stimulating work, by any means, but it had no choice but to remain within the tower. The Lyoko Warriors had agreed to let it stay for now, but that did not mean that they trusted the program completely. Even Ivy was still wary around the clone on occasion. All agreed that it should not be left alone with the supercomputer, so it spent the nights locked in the tower. HIS tower. The one that contained the code that was the program's mind. In truth, the form that everyone saw every day was only the interface; the program's true self never left Lyoko. For a human, the idea of standing inside of their own mind might seem deeply disturbing. For the clone, the notion was the most natural thing in the world.

Occasionally, the clone considered leaving the tower before one of them came to retrieve it, but always decided against it. Firstly, interface its body might be, but if a monster on Lyoko destroyed this form, the damage to the program's coding could be irreparable, given that no one knew what had given it a measure of free will in the first place. Besides, going against the Lyoko Warriors was nothing that the program was inclined to do. They had been kind to him, particularly Jeremie and Aelita. (But never together, it noticed. The program had not seen the two of them in the same room since they night he was created.) It had no desire to anger them. Instead, the clone remained in the tower, making tweaks on its appearance, organizing the data it gained during the day according to importance, and marveling at the joy of being able to _want_.

It wanted it to be morning so that it could learn more about the ancient Mayan calendars, as it had requested today. It wanted to see the snow that had fallen outside - they had promised that it could tomorrow. It wanted to see the rest of the town. Sometimes when Ivy was not around, the Lyoko Warriors talked to the clone. It wanted to see the house that Yumi had grown up in that she had described once for him, the studio where Ulrich taught his classes. It wanted to meet Kiwi, who was apparently too old to leave the house during such cold weather. The clone had never seen a dog, and it wanted to find out what they were like. The clone wanted to visit Quebec with Ivy. It had been thinking about it for weeks, and had finally broached the subject tonight. Her face had lit up with a grin.

"Of course you can," she had answered excitedly. "I won't be going back for a long time, but when I do go I will ask if you can come with me."

She had given his hand a little squeeze, then bade it good night. This same hand, the clone would smile at absently every now and again. It wanted… It wanted Ivy to come back tomorrow, and every day after. More than anything. More than anything...

* * *

Time had passed, this much he knew, though how much time was of no consequence. There was only Before and After. And Before was but a distant haze. He was aware that he had not always been this way, this much he could recall. He could even remember resisting when his rebirth had begun, though it all seemed so foolish now. He had been made into what he was meant to be, and he had no desire to be otherwise. He had little desire for anything, truthfully, save for one thing.

'Yes,' he thought to himself, giving a little contented sigh. Before he had been lost, aimless. Now he had been granted purpose, and it had been written into his very essence. Soon his mission would begin. All was in readiness. The only thing that remained was for the order to be given. He stood at attention, waiting, and would remain for hours, days, weeks if need be. Neither hunger nor fatigue troubled him, and his thoughts never strayed far. All he knew, all he desired, was to serve Her.


	14. In Which the Peace Ends

A scuffed wallet and a faded jacket that had once been forest green. The latter was slung over Ivy's arm. The former she turned over and over in her palms, half from nerves, half admiration. Did he take a piece of sandpaper to this or something?

"I doubt it," Aelita replied. Ivy jumped slightly, realizing that she must have voiced the question aloud without realizing. "He probably picked it up at a secondhand store. Sandpaper would not look natural enough. He's nothing if not thorough." As was always the case these days when she spoke of Jeremie, Aelita's voice took on a strained edge.

"I've noticed," Ivy remarked, opening the wallet again and examining the contents again. Ticket stubs, various scraps of paper, a few wrinkled euros… Everything, in short, that would be in a perfectly ordinary wallet. Again, Ivy marveled at Jeremie's devotion to the cover story. "Sorry," Ivy added in a voice barely above a whisper, feeling a twinge of guilt at Aelita's discomfort.

Aelita glanced up from her work at the supercomputer. "It's fine," she said, giving Ivy a small smile. "I really need to get used to it. It's nothing _you_ have to worry about at any rate." Ivy made a small, uncomfortable noise and returned her attention to turning the wallet over and over. The leather was starting to stick to her sweaty palms. "Relax, Ivy," laughed Aelita. "He's going to love it. Trust me, I know."

"That's right!" Ivy looked up, startled out of her embarrassment. "You did this too! Do you remember what it was like?"

Aelita paused, her green eyes sparkling at memories of the distant past. "Oh, it was beautiful," she murmured. "I remember the first time I woke up and everything outside… It was like a different world. All the landmarks I had come to know so well had been transformed. That's one of the happiest days I can remember. Of course," she added, her smile turning a little amused, "XANA kind of ruined snow later that same year. And then when I got my memories back… it was just different. But yes, there's nothing quite like it. He'll love it. Come on," she finished, entering the last few keyboard strokes and hitting the enter key. Ivy felt the thrum beneath her feet that meant that the scanners were at work. "He'll be waiting."

Sure enough, as soon as the elevator doors opened, the clone bounded over to them. "You're early!" he remarked excitedly.

"Yes, we are," agreed Ivy, chuckling at the clone's enthusiasm. "We only had morning classes today because the faculty have a meeting this afternoon."

"Oh!" The clone tilted his head very slightly, which Ivy had come to know meant that he was processing the information. "I suppose that this means that Jeremie shall not be delivering books today," he said after a moment, his excited grin diminishing slightly.

"No," Ivy confirmed. "But…" She hesitated, overtaken by a sudden bout of nerves, and cast a look over at Aelita. 'Go on,' the woman mouthed to her, gesturing to Ivy encouragingly. Ivy took a deep breath and continued. "Jeremie gave me something else to give you… I hope you like it." With that, she held the wallet out to the clone.

If he noticed that the wallet was slick with sweat, the clone gave no sign. He examined the wallet with interest, seeming to memorize every detail of the outside before opening it slowly. There was a slight pause. "That is… a photograph of me?" the clone asked her at last.

"It's your CNIS," Ivy explained in a rush as he brought the identification card closer to study it. "I know you said you wanted me to pick your name, and I wanted it to be a surprise or else I would have asked you, I hope that you like it. If you don't we can get Jeremie to change it. I mean, probably, I think, I know he's already done a lot of paperwork so I probably should have asked. I'm sure if you _really_ hate it though there's no way that he'd make you live with a name that you hate." The clone said nothing, waiting for Ivy to finish. "Um, do you hate it?" she squeaked at last.

In answer, the clone read his new name aloud. "Tristan Beaulieu." His voice was quiet as he stared at the identification card revenantly.

"That's you," Ivy told him in a voice equally quiet. "If you like it."

"Yes," breathed the clone. "Yes I… do." From anyone else, Ivy might have interpreted the hesitation as doubt. Coming from the clone, though, she recognized it as sincerity.

"Well, hello then, Tristan," she said, giving the clone a shy smile. The clone - Tristan - smiled back broadly.

"And the other part?" Aelita prompted Ivy gently.

"Oh, right." Ivy passed the faded green coat to Tristan now.

"Thank you," Tristan said, accepting it with a quizzical expression.

"The deal that was we all agreed upon was that you'd stay here until Jeremie had finished fabricating your identity, and that you wouldn't leave without someone accompanying you," Ivy explained slowly. "I told him to give me the ID when everything was ready."

Tristan's head snapped toward her. "Then… I may…" it began uncertainly.

"You may," laughed Ivy in response. "Put the coat on and I will show you."

* * *

The return trip was more challenging than was strictly necessary. In a fit of excitement, Ivy had suggested that Tristan keep his eyes closed so that his first impression of snow would not be the bridge. She already had another place in mind. Although puzzled, the clone had agreed at once. (Ivy felt her heart warm slightly as she noted how much Tristan trusted her.) However, she had not considered how she would get him into the sewers, and taking the long way around would be very difficult. Ivy and Aelita had just been debating whether Aelita should drive them back to campus when Tristan had politely interrupted.

"I believe that I could jump," he stated. "I have a very good sense of balance, and the drop is not that far."

"No," Aelita and Ivy had answered simultaneously.

In the end, it was decided that Tristan would sit down next to the opening and allow Ivy to guide him to the first ladder rungs, after which he was allowed to open his eyes but only to look at the ladder. Truly, the whole thing was a lot of work, and Ivy and Tristan had gotten rather wet sitting down in the snow, which led to a chilly trip through the sewers. However, seeing Tristan's face as they emerged into the park was all worth it.

She remained quiet while Tristan took the whole park in; the few inches of snow that blanketed the ground, how the snow had landed on the tree branches weighing them down and made each individual branch stand out against each other. "It looks pretty amazing doesn't it?" Ivy said softly.

"It is… wonderful," Tristan agreed breathlessly, turning a full circle to take in his surroundings. "There is so much of it."

Ivy could not bite back a laugh. "I suppose," she agreed. "I don't know, it doesn't seem like much to me. It mostly rains here. We have just been a cold couple of days. I expect it's all going to be gone by tomorrow."

"Oh." Now he looked so crestfallen that she could not help but laugh again.

"It is just this part of the country," Ivy explained gently. "In the mountains there is a lot more snow. We get lots of snow back home, and that stays for months and months. I think this is better, in a way, because it's around long enough to enjoy it, but not to become disgusting."

"I do not see how snow could become disgusting," the clone said, looking around at his surroundings again in an almost dreamy manner.

A sudden impulse struck Ivy, one that was too strong and too wicked to ignore. As Tristan turned his back on her, she moved quickly to scoop a handful of snow. The texture of the powder was not the best for packing, and without gloves her hands began to ache with cold at once, but nevertheless she quickly constructed her weapon. Taking aim at his shoulder, Ivy sent the snowball flying in his direction. It connected with Ulrich's hand-me-down jacket, making a satisfying _piff_ as it disintegrated.

The effect was immediate. Tristan jumped and whirled around, his blue eyes darting around, seeking an unseen attacker."What is going on? Are we being attacked?" the bewildered clone asked.

Ivy quickly held up her hands shaking her head grinning "No, no," she started before breaking out into a fit of giggles."It's called a snowball fight. You basically pack snow into a ball and throw it at people until they surrender."

Alarm changed to confusion, and Tristan dropped his defensive stance."It sounds like a very odd way of enjoying the snow," he remarked, frowning slightly.

"Tristan," Ivy said softly, and noticed an odd sort of shiver that went through the clone as she used his name for the second time ever. "It's a game. Play with me?"

Tristan made a noncommittal noise, kneeling down and raking his fingers through the snow."I am not certain that I understand the rules. So I am to take some snow," he started while slowly building a snowball that was sizably bigger than the one Ivy had thrown at Tristan. "And… throw it at you?" Without looking up, he tossed the snowball directly at Ivy's torso.

Ivy, who knew what Tristan was up to, was able to easily dance out of the way causing the snowball to hit the tree behind her, knocking a bit of the snow off of some branches. "Nice shot, but you have to be a bit quicker than that!" Ivy challenged, dodging behind a tree for cover while she built up another snowball to throw.

"Oh yes? Well, we shall see how long can keep running," he called back. She could hear him gathering more snow, and knew that she would have to be quick if she wanted to avoid him again. She leaned out from behind her tree, winding up to throw, but she had not counted on the clone's reflexes. The next thing she knew, a snowball had connected with her face.

"No fair!" she protested, stopping to wipe snow from her eyes. "Hitting people in the face is definitely against the rules!"

Tristan dropped the snowball he had been forming at once. "It is?" he asked, sounding deeply distressed. "I did not know, I apolo-"

He broke off as Ivy's snowball connected with his chest. The girl cackled victoriously.

"Oh, I see how this is played." The threat in Tristan's voice was clear, and his smile turned dangerous. Before Ivy could react, he had pitched another snowball at her middle. She staggered back, caught off guard. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Tristan had another snowball in hand and was tossing it, not at her this time, but the treetops above. Ivy followed its trajectory with her eyes… in time to see it strike its mark and dislodge the snow on the branch directly above her. "Oof!" The force of the falling snow, while not painful, was enough to knock the girl to the ground.

"Okay, okay, I'm done!" Ivy cried, dissolving into a fit of giggles from her spot in the snow. "I'm down, you win!"

Tristan smiled and offered both hands to Ivy to help her pull herself up. Ivy took them both gratefully, then gave a slight squeak of surprise. "You're warm!" she gasped.

"No," the clone corrected with a little laugh, pulling her to her feet. "You are cold. I do not thermoregulate, so the supercomputer keeps me at a constant skin temperature. Your skin temperature is low right now."

"I see," Ivy breathed. She still had not dropped his hands, finding the warmth too soothing on her chilled fingers. The girl studied her friend's features, noting that his reddish hair and eyebrows were slightly dusted with white power. She laughed again and reached up to brush it away. Tristan's grin widened at this treatment, and he held obediently still. Predictably, his cheek was equally warm, as though the clone was running a fever. Ivy's hand lingered slightly, her smile fading a little. If it was anyone else looking at her that way...

The silence was broken by the sound of a conversation coming towards them. Ivy blinked a few times, instinctively taking a step back away from Tristan and turning around to see if she could locate the source of the voices.

"I'm telling you Milly, the story isn't going to go over well, Principal Delmas is going to shut us down for good if we publish the cafeteria story." A girl in cornrows holding a camera at her side told the girl she was walking with.  
"But the public has to know that the school isn't using actual meat for the meatballs and gravy," the red-headed girl said defiantly to her companion.

There seemed to be something...off about the two. For one, they seemed like they could be students at Kadic since they were talking about Principal Delmas, but Ivy did not recognize either one of them. With class sizes being so small these days, Ivy knew all of the students on sight.

"Um, hello? What are you two talking about?" Ivy inquired cautiously, glancing at Tristan. Her friend had gone very still and was watching the approaching girls with narrowed eyes.

The two girls ignored Ivy entirely while they continued their conversation."But it's mainly just speculation. We have no proof that Ms. Rosa is actually using dog meat. It was just a rumor that we heard from Sissi," the brown skinned girl pleaded with her friend as they walked past to the two.

"Okay, how have I not seen you two around campus? Hello? Are you listening at all? I'm trying to talk to you," Ivy questioned getting mildly irritated at being ignored for this long. She reached out a hand to touch the taller girl's shoulder.

"Ivy, stop," Tristan began suddenly, but it was too late.

As soon as she made contact with the girl, The conversation immediately stopped and she whirled around to look at Ivy. Her features started to change, melting like candle wax and reshaping themselves. Her arms stretched and grew, forming sharp angles at the joints. Her fingernails become jagged and unruly. Her eyes rolled back into her head to show only the whites, and as she opened her mouth to give an ungodly shriek Ivy could see that her teeth had sharpened into fangs. Ivy saw this transformation, but was too stunned for a moment to do anything but gape, even as what had once been a girl brought it hand back and made a swipe at Ivy. She let out a yelp of surprise the claw raked across her, tearing her jacket but thankfully missing her chest.

Ivy staggered back, falling against Tristan, and felt a flash of gratitude that he was there to help steady her. The ghoul snarled at her while the red headed girl continued down the path completely unaware of her friend turning into some sort of demon, now speaking to air. Ivy stood stock-still, her brain still trying to catch up with her body.

"Move back now," Tristan's voice hissed in her ear. Ivy started to do as he said, only to find that Tristan had taken hold of her shoulders and dragged her backwards himself. Not a moment too soon, either. The ghoul dived at her feet, trying to tackle her to the ground.

Tristan released Ivy and the two of them backed away, both of their eyes still fixed on the ghoul. "They are not real," Tristan murmured as the thing started to get back to its feet. As if to demonstrate his point, the ghoul suddenly evaporated into nothing.

Ivy exchanged a look with Tristan. "XANA?" she asked aloud. Tristan confirmed this with a curt nod. "You should go back to the factory. I'll be needed here. Michael, too."

"No."

"But -" began Ivy.

"No. I stay with you."

Ivy gave a slight sigh, already halfway through dialing Michael's number and turning to jog back toward the main part of the campus. She heard rather than saw Tristan follow her - and also heard the sounds of shouts and screams in the distance.

Michael picked up after three rings. "What's going on?" he asked without prelude. "There are these things - hang on," Michael's' voice cut off for a moment while Ivy heard a door slam closed. "I've got the door, you deal with her," she heard him order someone, then more rustling. "Sorry," he said, his voice coming back at full volume. "Almost got caught. I assume you're at the you-know-where?"

Ivy was uncertain if he had intended to have some edge to his voice, but she wasn't going to deal with that now. "No, I was at the park when…" This was too long of a story, and if her guess was right… "What's happening at school?" the girl inquired instead, starting to run out of breath as she made her way back to the school grounds.

"A bunch of weird stuff. These things are popping up everywhere. They look like kids -" and now there was pounding against the door and Michael's voice grew more strained "-but if you touch them, then they attack you. Cal found that out the hard way, some girl he tried to hit on scratched his face and threw him across the ground. Everyone's scared and running around."

"Yikes... well I'm almost back in the courtyard. Where can I meet up with you?" Ivy asked while going out of her way to avoid a small group of students not taking the time to see if she recognized them or not.

Michael did not answer. He was distracted by something on his end of the phone again. "Lucas, for the love of god can you please get her to stop crying?" The pounding stopped. "Look, it's gone now, see?"

"Lucas is with you?"

"Yes, he's with me. There's a group of us, actually. We're hiding in the gym storage room right now. Figure that way we have something to defend ourselves if one of them somehow gets in. What? Yes, it's Ivy, she's coming." There was a pause for a few moments before Michael's voice returned with a mildly irritated sigh. "Lucas says hurry back and to be careful."

Ivy smiled in spite of the situation as she nodded to herself "Tell him I will. I'll see you in a bit. You guys stay safe as well. Bye," she concluded before hanging up.

"Gym?" Tristan asked as the rounded the corner of the administration building.

"Yes." She did not bother to ask how much he had heard. A thought occurred to her. "Wait," she said, stopping. "You can't come."

Tristan stopped as well, already opening his mouth to argue.

"You can't," she insisted, cutting him off. "Those things, they look like strangers. If the students see you, they'll think you're one of them."

Tristan paused. Judging by his displeased expression, she knew she had won. "You… must stay safe," he told her at last.

"I will. I promise." She nodded. "Get back to the factory. Help them however you can. And you stay safe, too."

"I will," he agreed, then turned his back on her without another moment of hesitation. Ivy took a deep breath and turned the other way to sprint out into the courtyard, prepared for the chaos she expected to find.

And find it she did. Michael had not exaggerated the level of mayhem on campus. In all of the confusion, no one noticed how one of the strangers failed to disappear, or how he moved away from the rest of the group, taking the path behind the administration building to follow three sets of footprints leading to and from the forest - where two had emerged and one had returned alone. And when the hand closed around Tristan's mouth, even if he had not been in the middle of the forest, the collective terror of Kadic Academy would have been more than enough to mask his scream.


End file.
